Aegis: Fragments
by x-SystemRestore
Summary: It's been 3 years since we have lost Victoria Island to Krylin's forces. Morale and trust in the Aegis is declining. I don't think there's any hope for us at all...
1. Prologue:New Beginnings

**Character List: **

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence **_- 15 years old - Ranger_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 1 (Prologue) - New Beginnings**

_It's already been three years since Victoria Island fell into the hands of Krylin. During those years, she began to build her own empire. Good thing Ossyria is so far away from it. I don't think I could imagine witnessing such a chaotic scene like that. _

_I suppose it's a bit odd that I'm planning to join the Aegis even when I'm not too keen on the idea of fighting. It frightens me to be honest, but still..._

* * *

><p>"Sis! I'm leaving for school now!" the boy said before he shut the front door of the house. He turned around and smiled brightly at the young girl that was waiting for him just a few feet away. "Sorry! Did I keep you waiting!" he asked her as he ran up to her.<p>

"Of course not!" she exclaimed, giggling. She swept aside her long blond hair away from her face as she tightly held onto her brown bookbag with her other hand. "We're early for our first day of school anyways."

"Eh? Really?"

The young girl nodded. "Do you even know when classes are supposed to start, Sean?"

Sean tilted his head slightly and scratched his cheek with his index finger in thought. "I haven't really given it much thought to be honest..."

"Sean!"

"Meg!" he said back to her in a teasing manner. Sean laughed when he saw her pouting.

"Fine! You could be late all you want and I'll be laughing at you whenever the Academy headmaster is scolding you!" Meg stuck her tongue out at him.

"That's mean, Meg! I thought we were friends!"

She giggled at him, finding his downtrodden expression rather adorable. Meg reached up and lightly poked him on his cheek. "Real friends would laugh at each other if the other one got into any trouble with the headmaster!"

Sean pouted as he placed his hand over the cheek that she just poked. "I never heard about that," he mumbled.

Meg stuck her tongue out playfully. She held up her hand and made a little 'peace' sign. "Good, because I just made it up."

Before Sean could respond to her witty answer, he saw her stopping and looking off to the side of the road. He tilted his head in confusion, raising an eyebrow at her before he looked into the same direction where she was looking.

"We'll probably get our weapons permits today, won't we?" Meg commented, staring at the small hut where the blacksmith fairies of Orbis created many different weapons.

"Yeah...probably."

The small hut had dozens of weapons lying around. Wands, staffs, bows, guns, spears, swords, you name it. All of them glistened and gleamed underneath the warm morning sunlight. It still amazed Sean that these small fairies did a fairly better job than the blacksmith back in Henesys did.

"I know that you're training to be a warrior, but what weapon were you planning to get?" Meg asked, starting to walk again.

"Eh?" Sean walked beside her. "Well...even though my sister's a spearman, spears and polearms look really hard to wield."

"How about a sword then?"

"Ah...those light swords feel weird to hold since I've been training to hold heavier weapons...but one of my sister's friends is a crusader and the sword he carries around seem like a burden to carry too."

"You better make the decision soon. I'm sure the people in our class will be rushing towards that blacksmith shop right after school." The blonde cleric let out a soft sigh at her friend's indecisiveness. She looked at him and said in a warning tone, "you had better not be this clueless when it comes time for the Aegis exams!"

"Huh? I'm not clueless!" Sean retorted strongly, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

"You are! That's why I worry about you sometimes!" Meg sighed tiredly again. "Jeez..."

* * *

><p>"These are <em>very<em> important! I trust that none of you will lose them."

Sean felt a soft nudge on his arm after the instructor passed by him, slapping a piece of paper down on his desk. He turned to Meg, who had nudged him, and widen his eyes slightly, silently asking her what she wanted.

She pouted and whispered, "we're going to the blacksmith's shop right after classes end, okay?"

"Huh? But, my sister said that I needed to be home by-"

"I don't want to go by myself though!"

The young boy tugged the end of his thin ponytail which was hanging down from his shoulder. "Fine then," he muttered unwillingly.

For the whole class period, Sean could hear the excited whispers of his classmates. They were all asking each other the same question - _"what kind of weapon are you going to get?" _It made it hard to concentrate on the lesson, but Sean wouldn't have been able to concentrate anyhow. He wondered what he was going to tell his sister that he wasn't going to be home right after classes. She had made it sound so important that Sean was sure he was going to get scolded by her.

Sean played when the ends of his dark blue hair and occasionally tugged on it as the instructor droned on and on about the importance of conserving mana.

"Is something on your mind?" he suddenly heard Meg whisper from beside him.

"Eh? N-no, not really."

"Mm."

Sean glanced at the petite blond girl and saw that she was, as always, taking diligent notes about the instructor's lesson. "Why do you ask?"

"You always play with your hair whenever you're thinking about something," Meg said curtly as she continued to scribble down notes.

He blushed and mumbled, "not all the time...just sometimes..."

"You don't have to hide it, Sean. We've been friends for three years now. Plus...you're quite transparent."

Sean narrowed his cyan blue eyes at his desk and slouched in his seat. He bowed his head, trying to hide his blush. "You're mean, Meg." He blushed even more when he heard her giggle softly.

"Now then!" the instructor said sharply. He looked over the classroom and snapped his book shut. "We'll have a test tomorrow! You had better study for it! It will determine whether or not you pass this course!"

Meg glanced over at Sean and saw him with a panicked expression. She sighed as she set down her pencil. "Do you need them again?" she asked.

Sean silently begged her by widening his eyes. When she slid over her notebook to him, his face brightened up instantly. "Thanks," he whispered to her.

"You owe me."

"Eh? What did you want?"

"Aomori! Everard! Do I need to send you two to the headmaster _again_ for disrupting my class?" the instructor asked, glaring at the two with his eagle-like eyes. "The lesson's not quite over yet!"

"Sorry, teacher..."

Meg elbowed Sean sharply in the ribs as soon as the instructor turned back towards the blackboard.

"Ow!" Sean hissed under his breath. "What was that for?"

"For getting me in trouble again."

He opened his mouth to retort, but he held his tongue. He had just reminded himself that Meg had given him her notes; notes for a crucial test that could determine his graduation from the Academy. Sean let it go for the moment, but if he wasn't at the mercy of failing the class, he probably would have elbowed Meg right back.

* * *

><p>"I thought you said we had to hurry!"<p>

"We do!" Meg shouted back as she gathered up her class materials.

"Hurry up then!" Sean said rather impatiently when he saw her packing in her notebooks and pencils with gentle care into her bookbag.

The cleric let out a soft 'hmph' and resorted to dumping all of the materials into the bookbag instead. She clasped it shut and ran down the stairs to meet her friend. "You're a bit more eager to get your weapon this time, aren't you?"

"I just don't want to get in trouble for coming home late again."

"Your sister's not _that_ strict, Sean. She was nice whenever I came over."

"Still..." Sean grumbled as they walked out of the classroom and into the hallways.

Meg smiled and said, "she's just a bit overprotective of you, but that's to be expected from an older sister, isn't it?"

"M-Maybe..."

"Oh!" The sudden gasp from the blonde made Sean jumped a little. He looked at her, but he saw that she had already run over to the windows that ran along the hallway walls. "It's her!" she excitedly exclaimed.

"Who?" Sean inquired, walking over to Meg. He raised an eyebrow when he looked down at the courtyard. There were a small crowd of girls standing off to the side observing another girl who was practicing her archery. This girl was tall and slim with delicate facial features. Sean wondered how her arms didn't break when she pulled back the heavy-looking Asianic bow.

"You don't know who she is?" Meg said incredulously just as Sean heard the small crowd of girls down in the courtyard cheer. She looked away from him and exclaimed, "she's so amazing! She's the star of this Academy!"

"I never even heard of her..."

"Her name is Ciel Clawrence. She's the only elf that attends this Academy and the only one that's willing to serve the Aegis."

Sean looked down at her again and saw her sweep away her soft blond bangs away from her face with her nimble fingers. "She's pretty good," he commented as he saw her land another arrow inside the bullseye of the target board.

"Yeah, she's going to graduate soon. I'll be so surprised if she doesn't make it as a platoon leader!"

"Is she really that good?" the blue haired boy asked curiously. He didn't intend for his question to sound at all insulting, but he assumed that Meg made it out to be that way because of the nasty glare she shot at him.

"She's probably one of the youngest people to become a platoon leader if she makes it!"

"Mm, really?" Sean cupped his chin and bowed his head down in thought. "I think my sister's platoon leader a few years back-" He stopped abruptly when Meg suddenly grabbed his hand. Immediately, he was dragged away from the windows and down the hall. "M-Meg! Slow down! Where are we going?"

"I totally forgot about our weapons! We need to get to the blacksmith's quick!"

"Ah, wait! Meg! I can't run that fast!"

* * *

><p>"We made it!" Meg exclaimed. She promptly let go of Sean's hand and happily sighed as she tried to catch her breath.<p>

Sean panted as he looked around the small blacksmith shop. "Did everyone come by already or are we just late?" he asked in response to the rather deserted store front.

"We're probably just early!" The cleric smiled as she wiped away the thin sheet of sweat that had formed on her brow. "Come on, let's just go in. I'm really excited to see what kind of weapons we'll get!" Without much of a second thought, she strode towards the front door of the shop and opened it.

Apprehensively, Sean followed her in and was immediately greeted by a seemingly chaotic scene. He widened his blue eyes in wonder as numerous fairies fluttered around the workplace, carrying various ores and minerals that were needed in creating the weapons.

"Stop staring," Meg muttered under her breath.

"I wasn't!"

"Yes, you were. You've been living in Orbis for three years now, Sean. You better get used to seeing fairies on a regular basis."

"I am!" he strongly retorted. Sean shot her a little discontent look when she simply brushed him off and went up to an older fairy that was working on a longsword.

"Excuse me," she politely inquired. "We're Academy students and we're here to pick up our weapons?"

The elderly fairy squinted at her, trying to look at her through his round, foggy eyeglasses. "I see...do you have your permits?"

Both Sean and Meg produced their permits from their bookbags and gave the pieces of paper to the fairy. He read them over quickly, his old eyes scanning them. Pushing up his glasses, he fluttered over to a shelf that was filled with various weapons for various classes.

It was a wonder on how the small fairy managed to pick up a wand that was twice the size he was.

"Here you are," he said, flying over to Meg and handing the wand over.

"Wow," she whispered, running her fingers over the cool metal.

"It's an Angel Wings wand. It's been blessed by the fairies of Orbis, so it will amplify your magic somewhat."

Sean looked at the small blue wand in his friend's hand and then turned over to the elderly fairy. "Uhm...what about me?" he asked, pointing at himself with a nervous smile on his face.

"Well, what were you hoping for?"

"I-I haven't really given it much thought..."

"It says on you permit that you were training to become a crusader. That means I can only give you a sword or an axe." The fairy pushed his foggy glasses up his bridge as he patiently awaited Sean's answer.

"I really don't know..."

"I see...then I'll have to assess you myself."

Sean flinched when the fairy flew towards him. He felt him flutter around his body a few times, silently looking at him up and down. It felt a bit awkward for Sean, but he didn't say a word about it.

"Hm...I'll give you an axe. I have just the right one for you," he said curtly.

"Really?" The young boy followed the fairy over to the tall shelves that were lined with various weapons. He widened his eyes when the fairy stopped in front of a great blue axe. "I-Is this it?"

"Hm." The elderly fairy bowed his head and closed his eyes. "From what I've assessed, you don't seem like the type that would be fond of carrying a sword _and_ a shield. It also seems like you do not have that much strength to hold a huge two-handed sword either."

"This axe looks a lot heavier though..."

"Nonsense! This axe was crafted from the purest of adamantium ores! It's lightweight, but it's strong. Very strong. Try holding it."

Hesitantly, Sean reached out for the axe and grabbed it. He heaved it up, but much to his surprise it was lightweight, just like the blacksmith told him it would be. "Wow, you're right," he remarked, looking at it in sheer awe.

"Exactly! This is the Tavar axe. It will last you through a thousand battles. Perhaps even more with how it was crafted." The fairy seemed proud that his work was seemingly acceptable to both Sean and Meg. He fluttered over to a long table and motioned to them. "These are your weapon holds."

The two of them grabbed the leather straps from the table and examined them.

"The leather is strong and durable so that it could hold up your weapons."

Meg experimentally strapped her hold around her waist. On the side, she discovered a small, narrow holster, similar to ones that held guns. She slid her Angel Wings wand into the holster and it fit perfectly. Excitedly, she turned to Sean and spun once, showing off her weapon hold. "Sean! Don't I look like a member of the Aegis already?" She giggled, but it was short lived.

Unlike Meg, Sean was having trouble putting on his weapon hold. "I..." He struggled to keep the large, bulky belt around his small waist. "I can't really...get it to stay..." Sean's hand fumbled on the huge metal buckle and finally the heavy belt dropped to the white marble floors.

The blond cleric rolled her sea blue eyes at Sean and sighed. "You're so hopeless." She smiled at his embarrassed blush and went up to him. Meg picked up the belt and slung it over one of his shoulders. "See? It's supposed to cross your chest. That's why it's bigger than a normal belt." Expertly, she fastened the buckle tightly so that it wouldn't slip off of the warrior's body. "Mm..." She skeptically looked at the hold and slid her hand underneath it.

Sean flinched when she gave it a slight tug. "Wh-Wha?"

"It's still too big for you. Look at how loose it is!" Meg patted Sean's chest. "You need to grow some more muscles."

Sean blushed again. "At least it's staying on this time!" He pulled Meg's slender hand away and turned around quickly so that she couldn't see his blush growing redder. Much to Meg's surprise, Sean managed to slip the handle of his Tavar axe into the hold without much trouble.

"At least I won't have to help you with that," she teased, coming up to his side. Meg turned back to the blacksmith and thanked him for the weapons.

"I'm perfectly competent, you know?" Sean grumbled under his breath as they left the small shop.

Meg giggled as they stepped out onto the neatly kept streets of Orbis. "I know." She reached up to pinch one of his cheeks gently. "It's just fun to tease you, that's all."

"You're mean, Meg!" he replied with a slight whine.

"I'm only being truthful." Meg winked and stuck her tongue out at him. She giggled when Sean looked away from her, obviously flustered. "You should get home now. Your sister might be worried again."

"Y-Yeah...probably."

* * *

><p>The dark, wooden door groaned softly when Sean opened it. He carefully peeked inside of the small house and saw that none of the curtains were opened. The whole house was dark and Sean assumed that this meant his sister hadn't come back home yet.<p>

At this, Sean let out a deep sigh of relief and freely walked into the house. He shut the door behind him. As he did, Sean heard the light footsteps of their pet husky on the hardwood floors. Instantly, his face lit up with a gentle smile as he knelt down to greet it.

"Hey Dante...did Alice leave you any lunch?"

The husky barked happily and ran over to the metal bowl that was in the kitchen. It was empty.

When Sean walked over to it, he sighed softly. "You really eat a lot, don't you?" He laughed when the dog barked back in response. "Sure, sure. I'll get you more food."

As Sean went to one of the cupboards to get some pet food, he drew open some curtains to let a bit of light into the house. He smiled as he looked outside onto the main streets.

It was hard to believe that three years had already gone by since they had settled in Orbis. It seemed as though it was just yesterday that he was playing in the streets of Henesys. The slightest bit of melancholy briefly passed his mind. Even though he didn't understand it back then, he had learned over time that Victoria Island was consumed by Krylin's forces. Sean wondered if they would ever be able to go back to Henesys.

The sound of a sharp bark snapped Sean out of his daydream and back to reality. He looked down at their pet husky and smiled. "Sorry Dante, I was just thinking about something." Sean opened up the pet food carton and went back over to the metal bowl. He poured the contents of the carton out and laughed softly when the husky hungrily ate away immediately.

Sean sat on the floor in front of the bowl and remained quiet for a long period of time. He simply watched the husky eating. "Hey...Dante, remember when we used to play on the streets in Henesys?" Sean reached out to rub the top of the husky's head. "You used to get yourself stuck in between the garbage bags all the time and I had to pull you out of them. I'm pretty sure you can't do that now. You were smaller back then."

The husky continued to eat.

"It would be nice to go back there again...wouldn't it?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Agh, I know this was short. It's just a prologue/introduction into the second part of Aegis. _

_I know this chapter didn't even show Alice, but she was mentioned and she WILL be the main character in the next chapter. _

_Ah yes, I did write about Sean. Finally~ He will definitely be playing a bigger role in the second half than he did in the previous story. I try to add in variety to the characters, so that's why Sean is an axe-wielding warrior. (I know those are extremely rare in the actual game LOL) _

_The next chapter and the rest of the chapters for this whole story will be averaging out between 8k and 10k in regards to word count. Basically, I'll be making them longer than this chapter that's for sure. _

_So, hope you guys will like the sequel! Until the next update! ~_


	2. Intertwined

**Character List: **

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 2 - Intertwined**

_"Alice...where are you?" _

_"I'm right here..." _

_"Where are you?" _

_"Dante...I'm right here." _

* * *

><p>Alice woke up in a cold sweat. She shot up from her bed, looking rather frightened. Her sapphire blue eyes were widened as she looked around her room. When she saw and heard no one, Alice tiredly dropped her head.<p>

This was the third time she's had this dream. She was all alone in the darkness and she was trying to find Dante. The only problem was that she could hear him, but she could not see him.

Gently, Alice raised her hand up to her throat and let out a shaking sigh. _"Why couldn't he hear me? Wasn't I calling out for him loud enough?" _She painfully closed her eyes, trying to forget about her nightmare, but she couldn't. Dante's voice continued to resonate inside of her head. For some reason, it sounded as if he was calling out for help.

Alice hugged herself tightly. Her bare arms felt cold to the touch. "I know you're dead...but..." She buried her face in her hands in frustration. "Why can't I accept that?"

A sudden knock at the door of her bedroom snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Hey, sis! I'm going to class! You're up right?" Alice could hear Sean's soft voice through the door.

"Y-Yeah," she stuttered back.

"I made a small breakfast for you. It's on the dining table, okay?"

Alice heard Sean walking away from her room and head out the door. When she heard the front door close shut, she slowly got out of her bed. Her slightly waved blue hair fell to the middle of her back as she stood up. Still in a sleep-induced daze, Alice walked out of her room and towards the round dining table.

She took a seat in front of the small plate of breakfast that Sean had prepared. A little smile crossed her face when she began to wonder what Minna would be saying to her if she were to see this situation.

_"Alice! You know you should prepare your own meals! You're the older sibling, after all!" _

Truthfully, Alice still burnt the food and she couldn't get any recipes right. Because of this, Sean took up the cooking ever since Minna left them unexpectedly.

* * *

><p><em>"Eh? Why are you leaving, Minna?" <em>

_Alice had walked in on the strawberry blonde packing her belongings. Most of her stuff were already still packed away in the bag since it's only been a few days since either of them arrived in Orbis. _

_"Ah...well, this new house your mother got for you Alice...it's a bit small for all four of us to be living in, isn't it?" Minna smiled gently and went back to packing. "I-I mean...I'm not leaving forever, so please don't think of it that way. I'm just going to aide Ivan with the long term quests that Athena gave him." _

_"So then..." _

_Minna turned back to Alice and sadly lowered her head. "And...I think you need some time for yourself." _

_"What are you t-talking about?" _

_"It's for your own good, Alice," Minna whispered softly. "You shouldn't be thinking too much about him. It'll only wear you out..." _

* * *

><p>Alice played around with the fried egg on her plate with the end of her fork. She cut off a part of it and slid it into her mouth. A little grimace made its way across her face when she realized that she wasn't really hungry. Furthermore, she didn't really have that much of an appetite.<p>

She turned her attention towards her pet husky as it slowly walked over to her. It glanced up at her with its cold blue eyes, almost apprehensively.

Alice couldn't help, but laugh softly at this. "You probably want to eat this, don't you?"

It's ears drooped slightly, as if it were embarrassed by this.

Giggling, Alice pet the top of it's black and white head and gave her plate of breakfast to it. "Sean wasn't kidding when he told me that you ate a lot." A little smile worked its way onto her face as she watched the husky greedily eating away at the fried eggs and bacon.

* * *

><p>Sean let out a great sigh of relief as he and Meg exited the classroom. "Thank goodness that test is over!" he exclaimed, stretching his arms out in front of him.<p>

"You're welcome."

"O-Oh! Right!" Sean dug around in his bookbag and fished out Meg's pink notebook. "Thanks," he said with a grin.

"Now you owe me," Meg said playfully, taking back her notebook. Lightly, she tapped her chin with the tip of her index finger in thought. "Hmm...how about ice cream?"

He rolled his blue eyes at her, but he quickly flashed a little smile. "Fine then, but only just this once."

"Or at least until you need my notes again!" Meg flipped her waist length blond hair over her shoulder and giggled when she saw him blushing in embarrassment.

They walked side by side out of the Academy and onto the streets. It got a bit busier as they made their way towards the small marketplace. Although the selection of produce and meats were not as varied as they were in Henesys, the marketplace still seemed to hold the same amount of people as back then.

"Sean!" Meg quickly took his arm and linked it with hers. She pointed off to a small cafe and pulled him towards it. "Let's go here!"

"Here?"

"Yeah! Their sundaes are the best! Or...so I've been told anyways." She giggled at Sean's confused expression as they went into the cafe. They took a seat at a small table and almost immediately, a petite fairy flew over to them.

"Can I take your order?" she asked them.

"Two sundaes please," Meg replied.

The fairy nodded and scribbled it down on the small notepad she carried. As soon as she left, Sean leaned forward and said, "I don't want a sundae though."

Meg pouted at this. "But...it's no fun to eat by myself!"

Sean leaned back against the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why does that matter?" He glanced up at her and sighed when he saw her big blue eyes silently pleading with him. "You can have both sundaes then."

"But-!"

"If you don't take both, I'll make you pay for them," Sean warned her. A laugh passed his lips when she shot him a flustered glance. "Just kidding."

Meg widened her eyes at him and it seemed to him that she was to the point of tears. Blushing heavily, she tightly clutched the soft fabric of her blue Moonlight robe and shouted, "Sean! You're mean!"

* * *

><p>"El Nath?"<p>

"Yes. While it seems as though Nackt and her troops are managing, Grendel has sensed a disturbance deep underground the snow fields. Before we send in any troops into the area, I want you and Miss Everard to scout the area first."

"Yes, Miss Pierce."

Alice looked up at Athena, but quickly looked away when they met gazes. Seeing this, Athena cleared her throat and asked, "Lia...could you please wait a moment outside? I need to speak with your martyr, alone."

The warrior looked at her platoon leader, wondering if it was alright.

Smiling gently, Lia nodded at her. She turned towards Athena and said, "I'll be right outside the room then."

Alice bit her bottom lip until she left the room. Once the doors closed shut, Athena spoke to her.

"Is everything alright, Alice?"

"Eh? Y-Yes! Of course!"

"You seem uneasy. Is Lia treating you okay?"

"She's very nice to me!" Alice said quickly.

Athena grew a little bit suspicious at Alice's manner of talking, but she brushed it off. "That's good then. The relationship between a martyr and a platoon leader must be one of good terms if they want to benefit each other. I'm glad you made the transition smoothly."

"We-Well...we've been paired up for two years now," Alice said in a light tone.

"Mm...that's not exactly what I meant." Athena lowered her icy blue eyes at the ground. She gently touched the hem of her long flowing robes and muttered, "I feel silly for bringing up old wounds...but it seems as though you are doing fine now, despite what happened to _him_."

Alice felt her breath hitch in her throat. A strange anxious feeling burned away inside of her. "I...I'm doing my best to forget about what happened." Alice opened her mouth to talk again, but she closed it immediately. She hesitated for a while before she quietly muttered out, "I don't want to forget about it or him, but...he told me to."

"Did he now?" The female elf smiled in a caring manner at Alice. She went up to her and gently placed her slender hand on the steel armor that covered Alice's shoulder. "Alice," she whispered softly, "if you don't want to forget about him...then it's simple as that. He _was_ your platoon leader after all."

"Y-Yes..."

Athena blinked and stared at the warrior when she saw a hint of nervousness in Alice's actions. "Is there something else that you wanted to tell me?"

Startled, Alice flinched just slightly. "I...uhm...It's a bit hard to say..."

"Hm?"

For a while, Alice avoided Athena's eyes. "Uhm...i-it's concerning D...Dante..." It felt odd saying Dante's name since she hasn't said it in a while. "I want to find him."

"Huh?" Athena looked at Alice in confusion. "Alice...Dante is-"

"I know he's dead, but...but...I can't help it." Painfully, Alice clenched her fists. "I feel like I'm insane," she admitted, "but...Dante...he's out there somewhere. I know he is."

* * *

><p>"Stay close. There have been reports of suspicious activity in these forests."<p>

Alice nodded and closely followed her platoon leader. She looked up and her eyes focused on the sliver of white cloth that was wrapped around the other woman's head. It contrasted sharply with the long cobalt black hair she had.

"Is something bothering you?" Lia asked, never turning around to face Alice.

"...Not really."

The mature woman lightly chuckled. "I may be blind, Alice, but my other senses are finely tuned. Your footfalls sound off."

Alice widened her eyes and immediately looked down at her feet. She wasn't aware that she was making that much sound on the soft snow covered ground.

"I'm kidding," Lia replied. She stopped and turned around to face Alice.

The blue haired girl looked at Lia's bandaged eyes. It still amazed her on how sharp Lia was at sensing things, even with her vision completely gone. "It's really fine. I'm...just a bit tired."

"Do you need some rest?"

Alice quickly shook her head and flashed Lia a smile of reassurance, even though she knew that she could not see it. "We can keep going."

"Hm." Lia turned back around and continued walking. The ends of her long, red Oriental Fury Coat lightly dragged across the soft, snow-covered ground as she walked. "Alice...if there's something on your mind I'm more than open to listen to them," she suddenly stated gently.

"Eh?"

"Please don't mind the fact that I'm your platoon leader. I've stated this before...haven't I?" Lia laughed lightly as they continued to walk.

Alice felt her cheeks turn a slight color before she stuttered out a response. "Y-Yes...you did. I'm sorry," she mumbled apologetically.

"Ah," the fire mage raised a hand, holding up only her index finger. "And don't be so formal as well."

"Okay..."

Lia smiled slightly and asked, "were you this polite to your last platoon leader?"

"Not...in particular." Alice felt a slight wind starting to pick up. A few loose strands of her blue hair flew around and gently tickled her face. Her heart began to ache even at the slightest thought and mention of Dante. "There wasn't a huge age gap between us."

"Not as much as us two, I'm assuming," Lia said with a light-hearted laugh.

At this, Alice couldn't help, but laugh as well. "No, I suppose not."

"Then...I'm also going to assume that you got along well with your last platoon leader?"

"Well, in the beginning...it was _really_ rough. We didn't get along, but that was because we didn't know each other that well." A little smile began to make its way across her face as Alice recalled the memories. "But when we began to understand each other...it was getting better."

"That's good then. The connection between a platoon leader and a martyr needs to be a healthy one. I'm a bit disappointed that not everyone sticks to that ideal. I'm sure you're aware of the fact that many of the other platoon leaders don't think too much of their martyrs."

"Yes, I know."

Lia brought her hand up to her lips and giggled lightly. "You don't need to worry, Alice. As far as I'm concerned, you and I are on equal terms. I will protect you as much as you will protect me."

Alice widened her sapphire blue eyes, in slight shock of what Lia had told her. She hadn't expected such an expression of deep care from her. Sure, Lia was nice and kind to her, but never before had Alice heard these sort of words from her or from anyone else for that matter. Alice finally broke into a soft smile and nodded.

"I'd like that."

* * *

><p>Alice blew out a puff of air and saw it float around in front of her before it vanished. She and Lia were deep into the wilderness of El Nath. The air surrounding them was almost unbearably cold. The cliffs were sharp and protruding. The trees grew wildly with no restraint. The only signs of anything man-made were several flimsy rope bridges that hung in between some of the cliffs.<p>

"Please tell me if you can see anything Alice." Lia said, whispering under her breath.

"Yes."

There was a certain ominous feeling hanging around them. The silence of the forest contributed to this greatly.

Alice maintained her guard since Lia trusted her to be her eyes for the time being. With this responsibility, she made sure to scan all around them for any potential enemies.

Suddenly, she heard a soft rustling sound behind them. Alice whipped around and barely caught the glimpse of a moving shadow. "Lia," she whispered, trying to grab her platoon leader's attention.

"Yes, I heard it as well. It seems as though we've already been spotted," the fire mage responded. She bowed her head slightly and lowly muttered, "I can sense two heat signatures. They're closing in on us. Alice, ready your weapon. It seems that we'll have to fight."

The warrior nodded and reached behind her to pull the Evicerator out of its hold. She held the slender pole tightly in her gloved hands. "I don't see them."

Just as those words left her mouth, Alice heard a loud hissing sound. She turned her head and saw an incoming stream of fire from the high treetops.

"Magic Guard!"

Lia raised her Evil Wings staff and a large mana shield blocked the attack. Swiftly, she dismissed the shield and created a fire bow and arrow in her hands. The sharp concentration of fire shot into the trees. "Come out from there!" she shouted. "It's no use hiding yourself from me!"

When the steam from the melted snow cleared up, Alice looked up at the trees. She took a step back when the dark silhouette jumped from the tree and onto the ground before them. When the silhouette stepped closer and out of the cool shade of the trees, Alice widened her eyes in surprise.

"...You're..."

A tall, blond haired woman came out from the shadows. She held two guns, the both of them the same black and blood red color. As she walked, her high heeled brown boots sunk into the deep, undisturbed snow. All the while, she kept her cool, minty green eyes locked on them.

A singed smell reached Alice's nose and she cringed inwardly at the smell. It was a terribly awful smell.

"It seems that I hit you," Lia commented.

Alice took a closer look at the blond woman and saw a sweltering burn mark on her neck. This injury didn't seem to bother the woman at all as she simply stood there silently.

"Why did you attack us?"

The woman didn't answer or respond to Lia at all. It looked as though that she was completely ignoring her. Finally, the woman moved, closing her eyes.

A shudder of fear passed through Alice's body when she saw the burn wound healing over. There was no doubt in her mind after that.

"You're the same as Ivan, aren't you?" she questioned the woman. Alice really didn't expect an answer back, but much to her surprise and to Lia's, the woman let out a wry chuckle.

"Don't compare me to that _prototype_." The woman suddenly raised both of her guns and shot out bullets at a rapid speed.

Lia created another mana barrier again, deflecting the bullets. "Alice, I sense another person closing in on us. Please buy me time to finish the spell I'm about to cast. Understand?"

Alice nodded her head and tightened her grip on her polearm. "Yes," she replied under her breath.

"Good. I'm going to take down the barrier."

Inhaling deeply through her nose, Alice bent her knees slightly, getting ready to dodge the bullets.

"Now!"

In that split second, Lia dismissed the mana shield and teleported back into the safe cover of the trees. Alice on the other hand, rushed towards the mysterious blond woman. She deflected some of the stray bullets with her polearm and took a great leap forward.

Alice let out a yell as she brought her polearm up above her head. Just as she landed on the ground, she swung the heavy weapon down. The silhouette of a blue dragon formed around the polearm, threatening to bring down anything that stood in its way.

The female corsair dodged the attack by jumping off to the side. She rolled fluidly on the snow covered ground and quickly regained her balance. Now on one knee, she aimed her guns at Alice and shot away.

Alice managed to get out of the way of the stream of bullets by taking cover behind a few trees. She flinched whenever she heard the bullets dig into the thick trunks of the surrounding trees, thinking that she could be hit by any one of those bullets. A sharp exhale left her mouth as she renewed her confidence. A look of determination flashed past her clear blue eyes before she stepped out from the line of trees.

Without hesitance, Alice rushed towards the corsair and did her best to dodge the bullets flying towards her. The sound of a bullet hitting the plate of armor covering her shoulder caused her to slightly waver. It unnerved her, but she did her best to brush it off. With her teeth clenched and her hands wrapped tightly around her polearm, Alice kept her eyes dead-set on her target.

However, right before she could strike, Alice felt a sharp pain in her right thigh. She stumbled and immediately fell on her knee. Alice trembled when she saw blood staining the dark blue fabric of her clothes. It hurt when she tried to stand up on her feet, so she stumbled back down again. Her breathing quickened when she heard the blond woman come up to her. _"Get up...!" _Alice told herself, using her polearm as leverage.

The woman stood in front of Alice and held the gun to the warrior's head. She clicked the gun and just as she was about to squeeze the trigger, she felt a pain in her stomach.

Alice jabbed her with the blunt end of her polearm. As the corsair recovered from the sudden blow, Alice got up on her feet and spun around smoothly before she landed another jab to the back of the woman's neck.

The blonde fell to the ground, but before she could get back up, Alice held her down by stomping her foot down into her back.

A dragon's head formed at the head of her polearm and it roared just before Alice stabbed the weapon into the corsair's back. Blood began to pool out from the woman's lifeless body and stain the white snow underneath her. Alice panted heavily as she rested her hands on top of the blunt end of her polearm. Even though she had gotten used to the sight of that much blood, she was still unnerved by it.

"Alice! Get back!" Lia shouted.

Obeying her platoon leader's orders, Alice pulled the polearm out of the woman's body and retreated. Almost immediately, she saw the woman getting back up, her wounds healing at such a miraculously fast speed.

Alice fell back behind Lia and saw the archmage glowing in a bright red-orange color. It almost entranced her on how the light grew brighter and stronger. Finally, as if the light couldn't get bright enough, Lia raised her hand and brought it down sharply.

"Meteor Shower!"

In the sky, multiple portals opened up. On the other side of the portals, Alice saw a dark, gloomy cloud filled sky. From each of the portals, a large chunk of molten rock flew out and slammed into the ground. Each of the large meteors created slight tremors. The meteors started to come down at such a rapid speed that Alice could no longer see the area where the female corsair once stood. The area was completely shrouded in a thick steam-like cloud from the melted snow.

"Alice," Lia quickly whispered, turning around to face her. "We must leave now."

The meteor spell was coming to an end.

"Can you walk?"

"I...I think so." Alice got back up on her feet, ignoring the sharp pain that came from her leg.

"Good, we must hurry." She helped Alice get off to a running start. "Even though I couldn't see that woman physically, she can regenerate herself, can she?"

"Yes."

Lia let out a sharp sigh. "I knew there was something wrong when you stabbed her. Her body began to loose the heat, but then it started to flare up again, as if she came back to life. In any case, we need to retreat. As I've said before, there is another person out there besides her. I don't know if it's an ally or an enemy, but at this point we cannot take any chances-" She abruptly stopped talking and immediately grabbed Alice. "Get down!" she shouted.

Alice fell down to the soft snow and just above her head she heard the sound of a dozen high pitched whistles. They all stopped shortly and Alice raised her head. She turned around to look at what just passed over their heads. Surprised filled her when she saw what seemed like hundreds of thin golden arrows embedded in the trees behind them.

"Definitely not an ally," Lia whispered under her breath. She clenched her teeth tightly and got to her knees. Without wasting any time, she raised her Evil Wings up at where the arrows came from. A ball of fire blasted out from a series of arcane circles that formed at the tip of her staff. "We're in the worst place for an ambush. We must get out of here, Alice."

It troubled Alice so much when she tried to stand up. Her leg was starting to feel numb from the pain that was slowly enveloping her leg. She grunted and fell back down onto her knees. "I can't...I can't walk anymore." Alice used her polearm as leverage again, trying to get herself up, however it was a lost cause as she quickly fell back down. "Please leave me. It's better if they catch me rather than them catching you."

"I'm _not_ leaving you here, Alice!" Lia bent down to take Alice's arm and wrap it around her shoulders. "Don't you remember what I've told you on the way here? I'm going to protect you as much as you have protected me."

"We won't be able to get away far," Alice muttered, starting to get dizzy from the blood loss.

"Please Alice! You can't give up-"

The sound of someone landing on the ground before them, drew their attention.

Alice raised her head. Her vision was starting to blur, but she got a good look at who was in front of them. At first, she didn't believe it. She couldn't believe it, but she chose to trust her sense of sight.

His messy, long black hair went down to his waist. His face was more cut and ragged than before and his clothes were torn as well as aged. Even though he looked different than what she imagined him to be, there was no doubt in her mind that it was him. It were his red eyes that gave it away.

"Dante...?" Alice whispered out weakly. She fought to keep her eyes open, but she could slowly feel herself slipping in and out of consciousness. Just as the man in front of her walked towards them, she closed her eyes and blacked out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_I thought this was a good place to leave off of. (Even though the chapter's short.)_

_The name of the corsair girl will be revealed in the next chapter. _


	3. Illusions

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 3 - Illusions **

The atmosphere was tense. Lia knew that she was going to be cornered, if she wasn't already. As she held the unconscious Alice close to her, she heard the light footfalls of the female corsair from earlier. Based on her body heat, Lia assumed that she had regenerated herself to full health already.

The archmage tightly gripped her Evil Wings staff and took a step back, away from the two mysterious persons.

"Are you two deserters?"

Lia didn't hear anything from them. At this, she chuckled dryly and asked, "not a talkative pair, are you?"

She heard nothing, but silence from them again. This didn't unnerve her however.

"Well...if you're unwilling to talk..."

With a swing of her staff, Lia produced multiple Fire Demons which shot out at both of them. They soared through the air and crashed down into the thick snow covered ground. The melting snow created a heavy cloud of steam, reducing visibility greatly.

_"I can't face them both with Alice in this condition," _Lia thought to herself as she wrapped her arm around Alice's waist, holding the warrior up. The only thing that made sense to her at the moment was the need to escape while the cloud was still providing them cover. However, this proved to be a bigger challenge than Lia had bargained for. It tired her out quickly just by moving a couple of feet because of the combined weight of Alice's weapon and armor.

Figuring out that she couldn't go on any further like this, the fire mage gently set Alice down and knelt down beside her. Quickly, she took out a dark magenta colored elixir from her potion bag. She popped the cork off and gently shook Alice, trying to get her awake.

"Alice...Alice, wake up, please," Lia said hastily. She tightly squeezed the warrior's arm, silently pleading that she would wake up. The black haired mage let out a sigh of relief when she heard Alice let out a weak cough. "Thank the goddesses, Alice. Here, drink this."

The warrior let out a weak groan as Lia tipped the elixir bottle so that Alice could drink its contents. Immediately, Alice winced and turned her head to the side, threatening to spit the liquid from her mouth.

"No, no. Alice you have to drink it. I know it's bitter, but bear with it. Your injury will be slightly healed at least."

Trembling, Alice shut her eyes tightly and swallowed the terribly bitter potion down her throat. She let out a choking cough and breathed out of her mouth, trying to expel the disgusting taste. Despite that, Alice felt her body becoming lighter. She felt the heavy pain that had lingered on her leg was slowly starting to disappear. Hesitantly, she sat up. As her consciousness was slowly restored, she saw that there was a thick hazy cloud lingering around them.

"Lia...what happened?" she asked.

"I'll explain later Alice. I promise. For now, we need to run."

Alice reached around and placed her polearm securely in its hold on her back. A pang of panic set in when Alice could barely make out Lia within the steam cover. "H-How will I-?"

As if answering her question, Lia took hold of the spearman's hand and held it tightly. "I'll guide you until we get out of here. It's a good thing I've grown accustomed to using my other senses, isn't it?" She laughed a little and helped Alice up.

The two of them ran to the best of their abilities, out of the steam cover and deeper into the dense forest. Alice looked back towards where they came from and saw the smokey cloud start to disappear.

"Don't look back! Just keep running!" Lia ordered, letting go of Alice's hand.

Tightly shutting her eyes, Alice did as she was told. However, the pain in her leg started up again. It was hard to ignore as it felt as if someone were physically stabbing her in that area. Then, without warning, her leg gave way and she fell to her knees. Lia heard this and stopped running.

"Alice?"

"I really can't...I really can't go any further," Alice said with a heavy breath. She grit her teeth at the pain.

"I'll help you," Lia hurriedly said. "Even though it's possible for me to fight them, you'll be at danger."

Alice winced as Lia helped her up. "I'm sorry," she muttered, feeling a slight helplessness inside of her.

"You don't need to apologize. You've done more than I expected you to do when I asked you to protect me." Lia smiled at Alice warmly.

As Alice opened up her mouth to speak, a bullet flew past her head and hit the ground before them. Immediately, a loud screeching sound permeated the air. Alice turned around and gasped silently at the sight of a large orange bird flying towards them.

"Alice, get behind me!" Raising her staff, Lia whispered a silent incantation.

The large bird suddenly burst into flames and hurtled itself directly towards the two women. Alice heard it screech loudly once more before she closed her eyes. It was closing in on them much too quickly.

"Magic Guard! Fortify!"

A clear shield of mana instantly appeared before Lia. The timing was perfect since the fire bird hit the shield directly.

Searing flames rushed past them, melting away all the snow in the surrounding area and scorching the bark of some of the trees. Alice heard the mana shield cracking underneath the intense heat and stress of the impact. She felt her face, the only part of her body that wasn't covered in armor, to be prickling with heat from the flames.

Much to their relief, the flames simmered down and eventually died off.

Lia sighed heavily and brought her hands back down to her sides, dismissing the damaged shield. "Are you alright, Alice?" she asked, turning around to face the spearman.

"S-Somewhat," Alice stuttered out, still in a bit of shock over the intensity of the flames. She looked around at the surroundings and then turned back towards Lia. "What was that?"

"It was most likely a summoned phoenix. There are wild phoenixes, but they're extremely rare and they aren't in El Nath. Plus, it's too much of a coincidence. It must have been summoned by the bowmaster that we encountered earlier."

Alice widened her sapphire blue eyes at what Lia said. _"A bowmaster," _she thought. Her memory was a bit fuzzy due to her being unconscious for a while, but she remembered the image of the man she had seen just before she closed her eyes. _"It can't be...it shouldn't be." _Alice bit her bottom lip and tightly closed her eyes. _"He's dead, Alice. Get that through your head!" _

"Anyways," Lia said, snapping Alice out of her thoughts. "We should hurry towards safety. I can't feel the presence of the two anymore, but let's not take any chances." She stepped past the blue haired girl and began walking away.

Alice nodded in response, even though she knew that Lia couldn't see her. Silently, she turned back to look up at the clear blue sky and in the distance, she saw the large phoenix flying away.

* * *

><p>It flew high above the trees before it descended slowly back down into the forest. The phoenix let out a soft caw as it perched itself comfortably on its master's arm.<p>

_"So...the Aegis are still at it? Hm, how foolish. First they lose Victoria Island and now they want to lose Ossyria as well?" _

"Shall we go after them?" the blond corsair asked.

_"No. Leave them. I wouldn't want you or my new host getting injured." _

"Understood."

_"Good, Isabelle. Now, bring him back to me. I'm sure he misses his master." _

Isabelle lowered her minty green eyes and glanced at the man that stood next to her. "Let's go. We don't need to attack them again." She saw the phoenix spread out its large wings and coo softly before it disappeared. She locked eyes with the man as soon as the phoenix disappeared. His hazy red eyes looked back at her blankly.

She kept her eyes on him for a while. There was absolutely no feelings or even a _soul_ within him. He was unresponsive and Isabelle began to wonder if he was even alive.

"Follow me," she said curtly.

And without any resistance, he did.

* * *

><p>"Wah! I passed!"<p>

"Really?"

Meg happily took Sean's graded test booklet to look at the score. However, her smile faded quickly. "Sean...you barely passed."

"But I still passed!"

The blond cleric sighed tired and handed the booklet back to her friend. "By _one_ point! I don't get it! You said your mom was a scientist and you said that your sister graduated in the top percentage of her class!" She looked at him rather sourly. "I even gave you my notes!"

Sean laughed slightly, rubbing the back of his head. "At least we can both advance to the physical part of the examination."

Meg sighed heavily and crossed her thin arms over her chest. "I suppose so..." Sternly, she suddenly whipped around to face Sean.

The blue haired boy flinched at her and asked nervously, "wh-what is it?"

"You had better not fail the physical examination!"

"I won't!"

"Good! Remember? We promised to go into the Aegis together!"

Lightheartedly, Sean let out a boyish laugh. "I remember."

Meg narrowed her crystal blue eyes at him skeptically. She finally raised her hand and held out her pinky. "Pinky swear on it!"

Sean sighed and hooked his finger around hers. "I promise," he said in the most confident, trustworthy tone he could think of. He stood there a bit confused when she still glared at him as if she did not believe him. "You don't believe me?"

All Meg did was pout and let out a disbelieving sigh.

Uneasy with his friend's reaction, Sean fiddled with the end of his thin ponytail that hung over his shoulder. He finally smiled a little and captured the cleric in a tight hug. "Believe me now?" He started to tickle her, causing her to laugh.

"St-Stop, Sean!" Meg stuttered out in between breaths. She giggled as Sean tickled her sides. "P-People-! People are staring at us!"

Sean eventually broke out into a fit of laughter as well. He stopped tickling her and rested his head on her shoulder. They both giggled and laughed uncontrollably. At least until Meg realized the position that they were in.

She started to blush when she looked down and saw Sean's arms wrapped around her waist as he held her from behind. "S-Sean..." she started in a low voice.

"Hm?" Sean let his laughter die down gradually as he looked at Meg with a curious gaze. He saw her reddened face and immediately he realized the position that they were in. "S-Sorry!" he exclaimed, quickly taking his arms away from her. A little blush tinted his smooth cheeks and he tried his best to try and hide them.

Meg saw this and sighed. "What are you apologizing for?" she asked him with a slight stutter. She was still slightly affected by what had happened. "It's not like I'm blaming you for anything."

Shyly, Sean tugged the end of his ponytail and nodded his head, still trying to hide his blush from her.

"Jeez," Meg muttered, smiling slightly when she saw how quickly his personality had changed. "You live with your older sister and you're still shy around girls!"

"I-I'm not!" Sean protested rather loudly. He drew the attention of some of the other students that were in the same hallway as them.

"You don't talk to any other girls besides me!"

"That doesn't mean that I'm shy!"

The two bickered carelessly as they walked down the small hallway of the Academy building. They seemed to be oblivious as to the other students that were staring at them. Meg was so engrossed in their argument, that she failed to avoid running into someone.

It was a mere bump, nothing too serious, but it caused the cleric to apologize profusely when she saw just _who_ it was that she had bumped into.

"I'm so sorry, Ciel!" Meg exclaimed, bowing numerous times, trying to show her apologetic nature. She blushed simply out of pure embarrassment.

Sean looked at the supposed "prodigy" of the Academy and it seemed as though the bump had not fazed her at all.

"...It's fine," Ciel replied in a gentle, soft voice as she looked down at Meg. Her delicate face didn't even break into any sort of expression. Instead, she simply walked past Meg, who was still apologizing.

"Hmph and you're claiming that I'm the shy one?" Sean said with a slight teasing tone in his voice. He looked down at his friend and saw her raise her head and turn around to look back at the elven archer.

"I'm not being shy!" Meg mumbled under her breath. "It's just...I just admire her."

"Admire?"

"I told you before! She's _amazing_! She's smart, beautiful, elegant, strong, independent..."

"It sounds like you have a crush on her."

The blond cleric whipped around to glare at Sean. She immediately placed her hands on her small waist and shouted at him. "I don't! It's just admiration! It's like meeting someone you dearly respect!" Meg huffed in frustration when she saw a confused look on the young boy's face.

* * *

><p>"Are you cold, Alice?"<p>

"No, I'm fine."

Lia smiled at the spearman. "Good."

Alice brought her knees up to her chest and tightly hugged them. The fire that Lia had lit didn't really help keep her warm, to be honest, but it was just comforting to look at. It also provided a slight ambiance to an otherwise dark, creepy cave.

"I'm sorry we ended up staying here for the night. It's not safe to be wandering around in El Nath's forests when its dark."

"N-No! It's fine!" Alice exclaimed. "I'm just glad we're not getting exposed to the wind! It looks like its really blowing hard out there!" she commented, turning her head towards the mouth of the cave. The chilly wind howled and whistled past the cave. Only a few cold drafts blew in once in a while, but the cave served its purpose as a temporary shelter for the two women.

Lia chuckled softly at Alice, finding her comment slightly childish. "Trust me, it's not a good choice in locales, but it's the only one available out here." The fire mage set down her staff and walked over to Alice quietly. She knelt down next to her and opened up the potion pouch that was strapped around her waist. Lia fished around a bit before she pulled out a fresh roll of new bandages. "I'm sorry," she said as she handed the bandage roll over to Alice. "If I had use of my eyes, I could help you with your injury." She sounded rather sincere in her apology, too sincere.

"It's not your fault at all! I only failed to do my job as a martyr properly. That's why I ended up getting hurt in the first place!" Alice laughed nervously, hoping that it would cause Lia to stop putting so much blame on herself and her lack of eyesight. Seeing a little smile on Lia's face, Alice assumed that her words worked.

Quietly, Alice unraveled the roll and started to wrap it around her thigh. There was a deep silence between the two and it was starting to become a bit awkward.

"U-Uhm! I hope I'm not being too rude asking this..." Alice started to say.

"Asking what?"

The blue haired girl finished wrapping the bandage and started to tie it off. "How did you become blind?" she asked rather shyly, afraid to approach this subject since she assumed it was a sensitive one for her platoon leader.

Lia chuckled softly and asked, "how do you know I wasn't born blind?"

"We-Well...I've been your martyr for two years. I've sort of picked up that you knew how certain things looked like even though you were blind."

"You're sharp." Lia smiled at her. "You didn't graduate at the top of your class for nothing."

Alice blushed at the compliment given to her.

"Well..." Lia said, sighing lightly. She scooted over next to Alice and leaned back against the walls of the cave. "I suppose my fire magic has it's benefits and it's downfalls. Or that's what everyone wants me to believe. I think it hasn't given me anything good at all."

"Huh?"

"I should stop beating around the bush...right?...I was blinded by my own magic."

"How...?"

Lia leaned her head back and whispered, "I couldn't control it back then." She chuckled dryly. "Athena called me one of the best mages in the Aegis. But I still couldn't control my own magic at that time."

_"That time?" _Alice thought to herself. She silently studied Lia and even though she couldn't see her eyes, she saw a slightly pained expression upon the mage's face.

Lia remained silent and Alice wondered if she had fallen asleep. Indeed, she was curious about the rest of Lia's story, but she decided not to pry into her life. Especially since it seemed as though it was a painful memory to remember.

Since Alice had thought Lia had fallen asleep, she was quite surprised when the fire mage began to speak once more.

"...Alice...have you ever loved someone so _dearly_ that you threw away all the rationale you had up until that time?"

"Eh?" Alice didn't know how to respond to such a deep question at first. "I-I...I'm not quite sure what you're saying."

Lia let out a wry chuckle and smiled as if she was remembering a fond memory. "I guess this is my burden to bear. I did what a platoon leader should never do and I paid my price for it." Her dainty hand went up to her bandaged eyes and gently touched them. "Alice...to be honest...I'm not worthy of the kindness you give me."

"But-"

"I'm a terrible person."

Alice bunched up her hands tightly and suddenly shouted, "I don't care what you've done in the past!"

Her sudden outcry caused Lia to flinch a little. "Alice..." she whispered.

"I'm not sure why you lost your vision still. I'm sure there's a full story to it, but it's obviously a painful memory to you. Even though I don't know your whole story, I know that you aren't a terrible person right now! That's what matters..."

For a while, there was only the sound of the howling wind outside. Alice began to wonder if her outcry was a bit too much and this made her feel a bit self-conscious. However, all of these thoughts were soon abandoned when she saw Lia smiling gently.

"Yes...I'm sorry." Lia paused briefly, taking in a sharp breath. "You're right, Alice. I'm sorry for saying such odd things so suddenly." She let out a little sigh, which sounded a bit like she was shuddering. "Unfortunately, I don't think I can tell you the full story tonight."

"That's fine," Alice said with a level of understanding in her voice.

"One day...I'll tell you," Lia whispered.

The blue haired girl smiled warmly and nodded her head. She saw her platoon leader's head move a little off to the side and Alice assumed that Lia had fallen asleep. Even though Lia had insisted upon keeping watch for the night, Alice felt obligated to let her sleep.

Alice heard the wood from the fire pop from the heat. She glanced over at it and then focused her attention back onto Lia. Her curiosity began to tug at her mind when she looked at the bandages that covered Lia's eyes. Were her eyes simply gone? Were they horribly disfigured? Why did she hide them?

Never before had Alice ever seen Lia's eyes. In fact, she had never seen her without the bandages. It struck her a bit odd, but she decided to leave the question aside. After all, Lia did promise to tell her eventually.

* * *

><p>"Hmm...I guess it's just us two tonight, Dante," Sean said, smiling down at the black and white husky. He looked out the window again as he stirred the cream and onion soup he was making. It was dark, but small colorful lights that were lit by the fairies helped illuminate the streets.<p>

Sean turned off the stove and rifled through the cupboards, looking for two bowls. His nimble hands quickly found two and he proceeded to pour some of the soup into the bowls.

"You look hungry again," he commented as he brought one of the bowls down to the husky. Sean laughed lightly when he saw the dog immediately digging into the hot soup. "Don't tell Alice I'm giving you stuff other than that boring old pet food." He gave the pet husky a little rub on the head and stood back up to pour himself some soup.

Just as Sean finished pouring, he heard a light knock on the front door. Immediately, the husky stopped eating its meal and perked its ear up. When Sean saw its tail wagging happily as it ran over to the door, he already knew who it was.

"What could she want at this hour?" Sean muttered to himself as he set down the bowl of soup on the kitchen counter. He went over to the door and opened it up. Just as he suspected, it was Meg. "Meg? What are you doing here?" he asked curiously, tilting his head slightly.

The blond cleric simply smiled at him and immediately bent down to greet the happily barking husky that was bumping its nose into Meg's bare knees.

"Hey Dante," Meg said with a light giggle. She scratched a place behind the dog's ear and placed a quick kiss on it's head.

"Don't tell me you only came by just to see him."

"As much as I like Dante, Sean, it's not the reason I'm here."

"Hm?"

Meg peeked behind Sean, looking into the small house. "Your sister isn't home?"

Sean shook his head, still curious as to why Meg was here. "She's away on a quest. Why?"

"I came by to ask you if you wanted to go to the Park with me."

"Huh?"

Meg sighed tiredly and crossed her thin arms over her chest. "It's not a difficult question, Sean," she said pointedly. Without waiting for another word from him, the cleric took her friend's hand and dragged him out of the house.

"Wa-Wait! Meg!"

Just as Dante slipped out of the house, Sean grabbed a hold of the doorknob and closed the front door. He struggled to keep up with the female magician, lagging behind her and begging her to slow down. Sean didn't know why he glanced down at his pet husky, silently asking for a bit of help. Even though he knew that there was very little that it could do, the dog seemed to be enjoying itself quite a bit, happily barking and running around them as it kept close to their heels.

"Why are we going to the Park, Meg?"

"There's something I want to show you!" Meg turned around to see Sean give her a skeptical look with a raised eyebrow. She giggled at him and turned back around. "I promise that it'll be exciting!"

"That's fine, but could you slow down a bit?" Sean shouted, helplessly unable to keep up with her.

Sean continued to follow Meg down the neat, colorful cobblestone path that led to Orbis Park. He nearly fell a couple of times, but Meg helped him keep his balance. When they finally did arrive at the Park, Sean raised an eyebrow and looked around. "What did you want me to look at?" he asked curiously.

Meg smiled sweetly and motioned with her hand to follow her. She led him a little bit deeper into the Park, which made Sean a bit uneasy since there were a few star pixies floating around at times.

"Look," she said, stopping at the very end of the park. It was a steep drop, or at least that's what Sean thought, back down to earth. There was a sea of clouds before them and in the far, far distance, Sean saw an island with dimly flickering lights.

"That's Victoria Island, isn't it?" Meg asked, excitedly.

"I...I think so."

"You grew up there, didn't you Sean? What's it like?"

"Eh? We-Well...I guess it's a bit more...smaller?" Sean looked up at the night sky in thought. "It's definitely not as spread out as it is here."

"I want to go see it someday, when the war's over." Meg's healthy blond locks of hair gently framed her face. She smiled at Sean and whispered, "that's why I'm joining the Aegis. I want to visit Victoria Island." A gently wind blew and the clouds below them stirred a bit. Meg tucked her hair behind her ear and looked out towards the island again.

"It probably won't be how it was when I lived there. A lot of things would have been changed."

"It's still a different place." Meg lowered her crystal blue eyes and mumbled, as if she were embarrassed of saying this, "I've only lived in Orbis all my life. My parents are really protective of me." Crossing her arms over her chest, Meg let out a soft 'hmph' and grumbled, "they won't even let me meet any guys! Isn't that unfair?"

"Huh?" Sean widened his eyes at the sudden turn of the conversation. "U-Uhm...maybe...hey, wait! I'm a guy."

"Really?" the blonde asked, giggling when Sean blushed heavily. "I'm kidding." Teasingly, she poked his cheek, which caused him to blush even harder. "My parents know that you won't do anything to me!"

"What...? _Do anything_?" the blue haired boy asked curiously, wondering what in the world she was talking about.

Meg held her hand up to her lips and giggled again. "Exactly."

* * *

><p><em>"Alice? Can you hear me?...Can you hear my voice?" <em>

_It was an infinite, inky darkness that surrounded her. Alice walked through the space and looked around. "Dante?" she whispered out. "Is that you?" _

_"I'm here, Alice." _

_"Where are you? I can't see you!" __Frantically, Alice looked around. She longed to see him, so much that her whole mind went numb. "Dante..." _

_Her body stood still when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders. She let out an involuntary gasp when she suddenly heard the sound of light breathing in her left ear. _

_"Save me, Alice. Please...save me..." _

_Alice lowered her gaze and saw the palm arms that were wrapped around her. "How?" she asked, raising her hand up to gently touch the familiar hands. _

_"I need you." _

_Her heart ached when she felt his embrace tightening. Alice closed her eyes and whispered, "I don't understand, Dante." _

_"I need you...I only need you," he whispered into her ear desperately. _

_Alice felt his hand trail up her neck and then gently cover her eyes. _

_"Alice...Alice..."_

* * *

><p>"...Alice? Alice, are you alright?"<p>

Her eyesight was still a bit fuzzy, but Alice blinked several times before her eyes finally focused clearly. She immediately wore an expression of surprise when she saw Xin staring down at her. "X-Xin?"

Xin immediately smiled and brought her up into a hug. He sighed in relief and exclaimed, "thank goodness! I thought you would be out of it for a lot longer! It's good that you made a full recovery so quickly."

"Eh?" Alice raised an eyebrow and gently pulled herself away from him. Sitting up in the bed, she looked around and saw that she was in a rather cozy looking room. "Wasn't I...?"

The door to the room opened up and Alice was even more surprised when she saw a familiar orange haired cleric. "Minna?" she exclaimed. It was such a shock seeing her since they haven't seen each other in over two years.

Immediately, the cleric's face brightened up at the sight of Alice. "Alice! You're awake!" she cheered, running up to her. Even before Alice could prepare herself, Minna jumped up on the bed and hugged the spearman tightly.

"Minna, I-"

"Oh! I'm so glad that you're okay, Alice! I thought we could never talk to each other again!"

"Huh?"

"I'm so happy!" Minna giggled as she snuggled up against Alice, tightening her hug.

Alice blushed a little at the affectionate embrace. She nervously looked at Xin, hoping that he could do something about it, but he simply coughed and looked away as if he too were embarrassed. "A-Ah, Minna," Alice confronted, gently holding the cleric's small shoulders. "I'm still a little bit injured," she lied.

"Ah! Sorry! I forgot!" Minna smiled and let go of Alice. Sheepishly, she climbed off the bed and dusted off her light blue Bazura dress. Minna cleared her throat and bundled herself up in the large brown coat she was wearing. "Sorry," she apologized again light-heartedly. "I'm just really glad to see you again Alice."

"I'm glad to see you too," Alice replied, smiling. "Uhm...where exactly am I though?"

Before Minna could open her mouth, the door to the small room opened up, revealing Lia.

"Ah, you're already up Alice. That's good," Lia commented. The archmage walked in and a familiar face followed her into the room.

"Ivan," Alice said, just a little bit surprised, even though she knew that where ever Minna was, the pirate was sure to be nearby. They made eye contact, but the gunslinger remained just as stoic as ever. He merely glanced at her with his forest green eyes before he simply looked away, not even acknowledging her verbally. She brushed it off and focused her attention back to her platoon leader.

"Lia...weren't we in a cave the last time I was awake?"

"That was two days ago actually." Lia paused and then walked up to Alice's bedside. "I'm sorry Alice. I should have known that your injury was much worse that I thought. You bled out too much and along with the cold weather, you were actually unresponsive for a few hours. Luckily, just outside the cave, I ran into your friend here." She motioned over to Xin, who smiled modestly. "He led us back to town and took you to Minna."

"What are you guys doing here anyways?" Alice asked, finding all of this a bit confusing.

Minna piped up first. "Miss Athena told me and Ivan to help the chief job instructors here with their quests. They even let us stay here at the Chief Residence! It was so nice of them!"

"Ah...I see," Alice laughed sheepishly. She turned her attention over to Xin and immediately he answered her.

"It's almost the same as them," Xin held the back of his neck and sighed. "Athena assigned me to scout the El Nath wilderness area because of the level of suspicious activity here. I was to report to Nackt and when I ran into you and Lia, I was actually on my way back from her palace."

"And did you manage to find any suspicious activity?" Lia asked him.

"Not to a threatening degree. I did run into a few of Krylin's scouts, but that's just about as suspicious as it gets."

"Did any of them attack you?"

"Not even," Xin said incredulously. "Weird thing was...they all fled as soon as they saw me. I'd understand if I was with another person, but I was by myself. Most of the scouts I've encountered in the past would have attacked me without hesitation."

Lia cupped her chin and muttered softly, "then they must not have found what Krylin's looking for. Actually...what I've been meaning to bring up was that two strange people attacked me and Alice a few days ago. If they were scouts, then just as you said, Xin, they would not have attacked us. It seems like they were sent out purposely to face us."

"They were with Krylin? You never know. They could have been rogue bandits that are neutral on either side of the war."

"I asked them and they failed to identify themselves."

"Do you know what they looked like?" Minna trailed off a little when she saw the bandages over Lia's eyes. Momentarily, she forgot about her blindness and immediately, she turned her head towards Alice.

Caught off-guard, Alice stuttered for a bit before finally speaking. "Actually...this is going to sound weird...but one of them that attacked us was a woman that resembled Ivan. Not only on how she looked, but she could regenerate herself." Alice looked up at Ivan and saw him flinch a little at what she said. It was obvious that he knew something about the mysterious blond woman.

"Ivan?" Minna asked, noticing his uneasiness. "What's wrong?"

Ivan furrowed his brow a little bit and then quickly shook his head. "It's nothing," he dismissed.

"Then, what about the other attacker?" Xin asked Alice, turning the subject away from Ivan.

"The other attacker...-" The blue haired girl stopped talking when she suddenly remembered her last glance of what looked like Dante. She desperately wanted to tell everyone about who she saw, but she decided against it, seeing as how it would be crazy of her to be talking about seeing a dead person.

"Alice?"

"S-Sorry...I couldn't really get a good look at the other attacker." Alice nervously mumbled. She silently hoped that no one would find out that she was lying. "I was starting to black out because of the blood loss by then. It's a little bit fuzzy in my mind actually."

"Mm, no good..." Lia muttered.

"I'm sorry," Alice apologized again.

"No, it's fine. I'm not blaming you Alice. You were injured while trying to protect me. You've followed my orders too well." Lia laughed lightly and smiled, reassuring the warrior that there was no blame placed on her. Immediately, the black haired woman raised her head and told everyone else in the room, "we should let Alice rest up a bit more. I'm sure she's still a bit tired."

Before Xin left, he glanced back and noticed Alice's slightly worried expression. He knew that she was holding something back, something that greatly troubled her.

"Miss Kaji," Xin called out to the archmage, who was already down the hall. "I have some matters to discuss with Alice."

"Very well," Lia said curtly.

Alice raised her eyebrow at this and grew curious when Xin turned back towards her and closed the door. "Xin...?"

"Alice...is there something you're not telling us?"

"E-Eh?" Swallowing harshly, Alice turned away from him, hiding her face. "What are you talking about? I've said all that I needed to."

The tall swordsman lowered his blue eyes and then looked back at Alice. "You know I'm a part of the reconnaissance Alice. I specialize in gathering information. I _know_ when someone's lying or holding something back." He walked over to her, his heavy dark gray boots making low thumping noises each time he stepped down on the wooden floorboards. Carefully, he sat down on her bedside and continued to stare at her.

Alice felt nervous under his gaze and simply kept her head downturned, afraid to look up. A light gasp escaped her when Xin cupped her chin and brought her head up. Her cyan blue eyes looked back at him, wide and frightened. "I...-"

"Alice...is this something concerning _him_?"

"N-No...-"

The armor on Xin's left shoulder made a little sound when he moved his arm, getting closer to Alice. "Don't lie to me. I can see it written all over your face," he whispered lowly. He let out a soft sigh and muttered, "it hurts to see you like this Alice. I know you loved him, but it's only going to cause you more pain if you continue to linger on the past."

Alice shook her head and pushed him away. "No..."

"He's not going to come back, Alice."

"No," Alice whispered, starting to become frustrated. Her eyes began to sting with tears.

"Alice, you can't just expect him to come back to life-"

"He's alive!" she suddenly exclaimed. Alice quickly wiped away the tears, but more came flowing out. Fiercely, she glared at Xin and shouted, "he's alive! I saw him! Don't you dare say that he's dead!"

Xin, taken aback by Alice's sudden outburst, stared at her in shock. His blue eyes were widened and he leaned away from her slightly. For a moment, no words were exchanged between the two. The only sound in the whole room was Alice's heavy breathing.

Finally, she realized what she had done and in embarrassment, she bowed her head down. "Sorry," she whispered, sniffling as she wiped away her loose tears.

"What do you mean you _saw_ him, Alice?"

Alice clutched at her bed sheets tightly. Slowly and softly, she whispered to him, "he...is the second person that attacked me and Lia. I saw him."

"Are you sure it was him?"

The blue haired girl nodded. "He looked a little bit different, but he looked so similar...it has to be him."

Xin silently watched her as she continued to blot away her loose tears with her sleeve. A little bit of guilt rose up inside of him at the sight of her. "Hey," he started softly. Gently, he placed his hand on top of her head and whispered, "I'm sorry for bringing up something like this. And for saying the stuff I said earlier." Sadly, Xin smiled at her and asked, "you really liked him, didn't you?"

Before Alice could respond, she felt him bring her into a tight, secure hug. "...Xin?"

"I believe you," Xin whispered as he gently rubbed her back. "We'll get him back. One way or another."

Alice felt her vision go blurry again because of her tears. She squeezed her eyes closed and hugged him back. Quietly, she buried her face into his shoulder and nodded slowly. "I miss him...I miss him so much."

* * *

><p>The piercing sound of a woman's scream penetrated the air. It was a pained cry which stopped abruptly.<p>

Krylin gasped for air and panted heavily as she clutched at her new body's chest. Her own empty husk of a body, fell to the ground. It withered and immediately turned to dust. As Krylin regained her breath, Isabelle spoke up.

"Please...I urge you to transfer your soul into your desired body. I fear for you as you may not have enough time left."

The necromancer coughed up a bit of blood and then smirked as she wiped away the blood from the corner of her mouth. "You know that I would if I could, Isabelle."

"Then please! I wouldn't mind if you took my body instead!"

Krylin chuckled softly and smiled at the blond corsair. "You know that I can't do that, Isabelle. You're my indispensable little warrior. I value you greatly for your skills."

Isabelle bowed her head in defeat. "I'm sorry, your majesty. I...I forgot that you can't take my body even if you wanted to."

Flipping her short dark purple hair, Krylin got off of the small altar and walked over to Isabelle. Her bare feet making a light sound on the dark tiles. She knelt down to meet Isabelle's gaze and cupped her chin. "Oh...I would love to take your body, Isabelle. Your beauty is exceedingly brilliant and how could I forgot about that wonderful ability of regeneration. But...I have told you before...I can only take over the bodies of living souls. I've learned this the hard way unfortunately...through your brother, Ivan."

Isabelle lowered her minty green eyes.

"Oops...I'm sorry," Krylin giggled. "I forgot you didn't want him to be related to you...but there's no denying it, Isabelle. Without him, you wouldn't have been this perfected by Doctor Everard, would you? You owe it all to him for letting the scientists create him with all those flaws of human emotions and a mortal weakness. Without him...you would have been the prototype, not him."

"Y-Yes..."

Krylin smiled and let her blunt nails trail lightly over Isabelle's smooth cheek. "Good girl," she whispered. Krylin got up to her feet and told Isabelle, "this body will only be temporary. It is a pity though..." She raised her hand up and inspected the wrist of her new body. "This girl was a good soldier in my army, but...she made the choice of letting me take over her body. What a nice girl."

"When will you be transferring yourself into your desired body, your majesty?"

"In due time, Isabelle." Krylin smirked and turned away from the corsair. She waved her hand swiftly over the air and instantly, a dark purple cloud swirled and created a small portal. "All I need to do is be patient."

The mage stepped into the portal and in a blink of an eye, she was transported from the oratory to the oubliette of the castle. Krylin walked up to one of the walls and placed her hand on the gravelly stone. Quickly, she whispered some incantations. The stones immediately began to rumble as the wall came apart. It shifted its bricks, spinning them in ways that were nearly geometrically impossible.

Krylin waited until the rumbling stopped and she smirked when she saw the lone figure sitting lifelessly in the middle of the next room on a chair.

The room was windowless and nothing else was in the room except for the chair and a small flickering candle in one of the corners, forever burning. It provided just enough light for Krylin to see inside the room at her prize.

"What _did _that sister of mine do to you?" Krylin whispered, walking up to the lifeless form. Her gray eyes flickered as she stared down at the man sitting in the chair. His head fell to one side of his shoulders and his long bangs covered his eyes. "Why can't I get in?"

She reached down and cleared away the messy black hair from his face.

Krylin narrowed her eyes when she saw those lifeless red eyes stare into a blank nothingness. "You're soulless...so then...why...?" Angrily, she clenched her teeth and dragged her nails across his neck, drawing a bit of blood. She continued until her fingers met the black flame tattoo on the man's chest. Krylin eventually broke into a soft laugh. She raised her bloody fingers up to her lips and licked away the blood. "What did that bitch Nackt do to you before you came to me...Dante?"

As he was since she entered the room, he remained silent and in the same lifeless sitting position. His hazed over red eyes didn't move to look at her and he continued to stare off into space as if he were in a trance.

"No hurry," Krylin said with a grin. She licked up the last of the blood from her fingers. Gently, she brushed away Dante's long black hair from his shoulder and then cupped his cheek. "It's not like anyone will be looking for you. You _are_ dead after all."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Thank you all for the reviews! _

_In response to your wonderful review, Mapleized, (that you left on the first story) yes, I did get inspired by Kuroshitsuji for that scene in chapter 26. In fact, Rose's character was probably 50 percent based on Madame Red. She was just such a wonderful character that I wanted to create a character based off of her. :] _

_Other reviews: _

_codellmarie - No, I'm sorry. I have never watched or read Inuyasha. _

_Patrick - Yes, elves can be platoon leaders. There is no discrimination in ranking (since Athena is an elf herself). As in many other fantasy stories, elves in my story tend to not trust humans that much and they're just isolated around the continents. Many of Nackt's soldiers are elves if you remember back in the early chapters of Aegis. :] _

_snowpaum - Dante the husky is the same size as a normal, real life adult husky. c:_


	4. Unsure

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 4 - Unsure**

"Are you well rested, Alice?"

Alice looked at her platoon leader and nodded rather energetically. "Yes! I've never felt better!" she exclaimed, smiling broadly.

Lia laughed softly and turned over to Minna. "You did have a good healer, after all."

Widening her wine red eyes and blushing at the compliment, Minna giggled nervously and tucked a lock of her wavy orange hair behind her ear. "I-It was nothing, Miss Kaji. I'm not _that_ good of a healer. My healing magic still needs a bit of work..."

"You undermine yourself greatly, Minna."

Alice couldn't help, but giggle at the cleric's flustered speech. Even after the two long years that she hasn't seen her, Minna didn't lose her adorable charm. "Thanks, Minna," she said with a smile, causing Minna to blush even harder.

"It really was nothing! Anyone could have done it!"

Alice laughed again at Minna's humble way of receiving the compliments to her healing abilities. "Well...I guess this is goodbye for now?"

"Mm, I guess so," the cleric replied, smiling softly. "I'll try to make time to come visit you in Orbis soon. Unfortunately, the guild here is keeping me and Ivan busy...so I don't think we could leave El Nath any time soon."

"It's okay." Alice felt a bit of disappointment when she heard that, but she swallowed it down. She knew that she had to get used to it. It wasn't like everything could go back to the way they were three years ago, as much as she wanted them to be. Smiling to hide these feelings, Alice took Minna's hand and gave a it a gentle squeeze. "I'll see you soon then. Be careful."

Minna nodded. "You too. You take care of yourself too, Alice. It looks like you're starting to fare a little bit better than you were before."

"Huh?"

"...About Dante."

"O-Oh," the young female warrior stuttered out. She quickly took on a slight laugh. "Of course! How long has it been anyways?"

"That's good." Minna closed her red eyes and smiled.

"Alice!" Xin called out, standing out in the street in front of the guild building. "Are you ready to leave?"

Alice turned towards him and then back at Minna. She gave her one last smile and let go of the cleric's dainty hand. Quickly she rushed down the front steps and strode over to Xin. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.

Xin chuckled at this and replied, "it's alright. Minna's your close friend after all."

"Where's Lia?"

"Oh...she told us to go towards the tower right now. She went towards the Free Market to look for a Orbis rock scroll."

"Ah, okay."

The two of them quietly walked through the small, snow covered town. As the seconds wore on, Alice found the growing silence between them to be nearly unbearable. She knew that she was still a bit apologetic towards him for yelling at him yesterday.

"Are you cold?" he asked her, breaking the silence.

Alice quickly shook her head. She then took a look at Xin and stared at his bare arms. "You look even colder."

"Oh," Xin said, looking down at his arms. He laughed it off and shrugged. "Athena sent me to El Nath so many times in the past few months that I guess I'm used to the cold," he said in a carefree tone.

"Why does she send you down here so many times?"

The swordsman chuckled at her before saying, "you know that I can't tell you specifically _why_, Alice."

"O-Oh! Right...sorry..." Alice muttered as she blushed in embarrassment. "I forgot."

Xin smiled and gently rubbed the top of her head. "Happens to the best of us," he replied.

For a moment, Alice found herself somewhat _liking_ the fact that Xin was touching the top of her head. However, when his hand left her, Alice grew frightened of the slight yearning she had for his touch again.

"Is everything okay, Alice?" Xin asked, seeing a change in her expression.

Alice quickly shook her head and avoided his eyes. "I-It's fine. I just want to get back home soon," she said, followed by a small, nervous laugh.

_"What is wrong with me? I can't...I shouldn't...! I still like Dante! I don't like Xin anymore..." _

Disturbed by her own feelings, Alice began to play with her soft cyan colored locks that fell below her shoulders with an unsettled look on her face. Once again, Xin noticed this.

"We'll find him Alice," he muttered softly, assuming that her sudden uneasiness was due to the mysterious reappearance of her former platoon leader.

"Eh?"

"Dante, we'll find him."

"Ye-Yes...of course." Alice flashed him a weak little smile. "I hope so!"

Xin suddenly stopped walking and grabbed the spearman by her wrist. He received a surprised gasp from Alice, but he held her still. "Maybe it's better if we _don't_ find him after all," he muttered under his breath, looking down at Alice with a stern expression.

First, Alice couldn't believe what she heard from him. She began to question on whether or not she heard him right. In response, she laughed nervously. "What are you talking about, Xin?"

Xin closed his blue eyes and brought her in for a hug, surprising her greatly. "To be honest...I didn't like how he treated you Alice. It wasn't right...making you cry all the time, giving you nothing, but pain. Even after he's dead...you're still being hurt by him."

"X-Xin? Why are you saying these things all of a sudden?" Alice blushed heavily as she tried to push herself away from him. "Dante...he's a good person! Even though he hurt me, I'm pretty sure that I've hurt him even more because I couldn't realize fast enough of what he was going through!"

The strong swordsman held on tightly to Alice, ignoring her trying to get out of his arms. "That wasn't your fault, Alice," he whispered.

"It is! It's _my_ fault that he's not here-!"

Just as Alice managed to shove herself away from him, in a split second, Xin took ahold of her arm again and pulled her towards him. Before she could react in any way, she felt him capture her lips in a kiss. Her mind went into a blank and her body began to tremble when she realized what was really happening. Tightly, Alice squeezed her eyes shut and tried to push him away. When that didn't work, she tried to turn her head away to break the kiss, but he quickly took hold of her chin, keeping her head in place.

Alice whimpered as Xin kept their lips tightly locked together. She didn't know what to think. Was she supposed to enjoy this? No...she couldn't...not when she still liked Dante.

"Nnn...N-No!" she yelled, pushing him away with all of her strength.

Xin released her, but he didn't seem affected by her strong push. He looked at her with a rather solemn look on his face, not at all fazed by the kiss.

Alice, however, held her head and let her long cyan hair create a little barrier so that he couldn't see her terribly reddened face. Her breathing came out in deep shudders, still in shock at what she experienced. "W-Why...?" she managed to stutter out.

"...Dante told you to forget about him, didn't he? He told you to move on...to meet another man."

The spearman flinched when she heard the snow crunch underneath Xin's feet. She looked up and backed away slightly when she saw him walking up to her.

"Alice...the fact that he attacked you means that Krylin probably has complete control over his conscious."

"No..."

"There's nothing to do for him anymore."

"You're wrong-!"

Xin grabbed her smooth hand and held it gently. He then slowly brought it up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Without taking his lips away from her skin, he looked at her with his dark blue eyes. "I hate seeing you get hurt anymore, Alice. It's time to move on."

Alice felt her cheeks heat up, much to her displeasure, when Xin continued to gently kiss away at her fingertips. "Xin, stop-"

He held her hand tightly, preventing her from pulling it away. Lowly, Xin whispered, "it was a mistake to had turn you down that time, Alice."

"E-Eh?"

"For the past three years since we left Victoria Island...you haven't _really_ smiled at all. They were all fake."

"N-No they weren't! Stop saying such things!"

"Stop lying, Alice. I can tell."

Unsure of what to say or what to do, Alice just simply bowed her head down, trying to avoid his gaze. She felt her heard speed up suddenly when she felt him take a lock of her hair in between his fingers.

Xin played with her hair a little bit, rubbing it gently in between his thumb and index finger, before he whispered to her, "I'll be the one to make you smile again, Alice...I'll help you move on."

* * *

><p>"Sean! You're not supposed to let go of your weapon once it hits something!"<p>

"I'm sorry..."

"You act as if you're afraid of it!" The instructor let out a long and tired sigh, clearing back his curly brown hair by running his hand over his head once. "Never mind, just do it over again." He carelessly waved his hand and walked away to tend to the other students in the training field.

Sean pouted slightly before he picked up the heavy Tavar axe. Its shining silver edges gleamed in the sunlight as he held it tightly in his hands. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to let go of the axe whenever he hit something. It was just that...it _hurt_ because of the repercussion the impact created.

Tiredly, Sean swung the axe down and let it sit in the ground for a while. He brought his raw hands up to his face and saw blisters starting to form.

"That's why you wear gloves, dummy."

Startled, Sean whipped around quickly, only to see Meg behind him. A cheerful little smile was upon her face as she watched him blush in embarrassment.

"Don't magicians train in the other field?" Sean asked her.

"Our instructor's letting us take a little break! She also said that us clerics could come over to the other practice fields and heal anyone who has injuries, like you."

"Shut up," the young boy mumbled, still embarrassed. He began to play with his thin ponytail again, causing Meg to giggle at how cute he looked.

"Alright then...give me your hands. I'll try to heal them!" Meg excitedly ran over and took Sean's soft hands in hers. At this, she laughed again. "Your hands are like a girl's!"

"No they're not!"

The blonde smiled at him while gently letting go of his hands. "That's why you need to wear gloves. Now, hold your hands there. I'll heal them."

Curiously, Sean held his hands out to Meg and he watched intently. He had never really seen his friend perform any sort of healing magic and he had never seen other clerics perform healing magic...at least not right in front of him.

From the palm of Meg's hands, a soft green light flowed out. It created an orb around Sean's blistered hands, capturing them in the green aura. Sean stared at the light, entranced by how beautiful it looked. The green aura shined, gleamed, and sparkled as his hands started to heal. Once the orb disappeared, Sean widened his blue eyes at how the redness and blisters from his hands were completely gone.

"Wow, that's amazing..." he whispered, turning his hand around and inspecting it curiously.

"I'm glad it worked!" Meg exclaimed happily, proud with her success at healing. "Make sure you work hard again! I want to heal you once more."

"Are you telling me to get hurt again...?"

The cute blonde giggled before she ran away, never answering him.

Sean pouted a little bit at this and turned back towards his axe. He took in a deep breath, tightly gripping the hilt. He resumed his training, but after just a few swings, Sean felt his hands stinging again. Maybe he should get some gloves...

* * *

><p>The climb up to the transport stone proved to be rather steep and therefore, somewhat difficult. However, the difficult climb wasn't on Alice's mind, even at the slightest.<p>

"Just a few more steps up and we'll be at the stone. Be careful. Some of the steps are a bit eroded," Lia warned to Xin and Alice, who were both following her.

"You're really amazing, Miss Kaji!" Xin exclaimed, causing Alice to flinch at the sound of his voice. "Despite being blind, you can still walk around as if you can see everything."

Alice silently listened to the two of them talk. As hard as she tried to forget about what had happened earlier between her and Xin, she just couldn't. She could still feel his hot lips on top of hers and she could still feel the grip of his hand around her wrist. Quietly, she brought that same wrist up to her chest and she held it with her other hand. An involuntary shudder passed through her body, still in great shock.

"Alice? Is everything alright? You're more quiet than usual," Lia asked curiously, stopping.

"Eh? N-No!" Alice felt her heart jump when her eyes met Xin's. Embarrassed and somewhat afraid of him, Alice looked away immediately. "I uhm...I might have come down with something while we were in El Nath. It's no big deal!"

"Ah...is that so? Well, we'll be at the transport stone soon. When we reach Orbis, you should go home and get some rest. I'll turn in the quest to Athena myself."

The warrior felt Xin's eyes on her still as she nodded in response to Lia. Curiously, Alice glanced up and blushed heavily when she locked eyes with Xin again. She continued to flashback to the earlier events that had happened between them.

Immediately, she felt as if a huge pressure had been lifted off of her shoulders when she felt Xin look away. Alice sighed softly when she confirmed that with her own eyes. As she stared at the back of his head, she wondered if he had any sort of reaction towards what had happened. For the longest time, ever since Lia had rejoined them, Xin hasn't said a word to Alice. He hadn't even smiled at her either. All he would do would be to look back at her solemnly and whenever their eyes met, either he or Alice would look away.

It was confusing to her. This whole situation was confusing in fact. She had no idea why Xin agreed to help her find Dante and all of a sudden, he would tell her that he disliked him.

"We're here," Lia said, arriving in front of the jagged, floating stone.

It emitted a faint blue glow, drawing all three of them in. Lia quickly unraveled the transportation scroll and gently stuck it onto the rock. It let out a flash of bright light and the light quickly died down, revealing to them a portal.

"Alice, you and Xin go first. I'll be right behind you two."

Alice nodded and just as she was about to step towards the portal, she felt Xin take hold of her hand. It startled her, causing her to flinch involuntarily. Before she knew it, Xin stepped into the portal, pulling her in with him. In a blink of an eye, they both found themselves at the top-most level of the Orbis tower. The warm weather felt inviting to Alice as they stood there underneath a beam of sunlight shining through one of the tower's arched windows.

"Alice," Xin suddenly started softly. He turned towards her and gave her small hand a tight squeeze. "I won't back down from my promise to you."

"H-Huh?"

Xin didn't say anything else. Instead, he simply let go of her hand and right after, Lia stepped out of the portal behind them.

"Alice, you should go home and rest up. You must be exhausted," the fire mage said, gently touching Alice's armor plated shoulder. "I'll report back to Athena about our quest myself, so don't worry about it." Lia smiled kindly down at Alice and then she brushed away some strands of her black hair from her face. "Xin, could I ask of you to take Alice back to her home?"

"Yes, of course," he replied.

"Thank you." Lia turned her attention back towards Alice. "I'll stop by tomorrow to check up on you. Okay?"

Once the archmage left the tower, Alice found herself to be alone with Xin again.

"Will your little brother be home?" he asked her as they slowly walked out of the tower.

Alice gently grabbed onto her other arm and hugged herself a little bit as she nodded. "He's probably done with his classes by now."

"Hmm...he's training to become a crusader, isn't he? I remember that he asked me some questions about it a while ago."

"Y-Yeah..."

Alice played with her slightly waved cyan colored hair, twirling it around her index finger. She wondered why Xin wasn't bringing up anything pertaining to the _other_ subject. What promise was he talking about? It couldn't possibly be...

"I'll be here for you Alice."

"Eh?" Taken aback by what he sudden said, Alice widened her light blue eyes at him.

Xin chuckled at her reaction and added in, "you know...for your leg. Even though Minna healed the wound, you never know."

"A-Ah...of course! That..." Alice nervously giggled as she tucked a lock of her cyan hair behind her ear. "That was such an odd way of putting it..."

They had arrived at Alice's house already, much to her relief. She wanted nothing more than to have some time to herself. So many things had happened the past few days that she felt the need to sort through them slowly. "Uhm...I'll just be going then." Alice flashed Xin a fleeting smile and gave a slight nod of her head. Just before she could go inside her house though, she felt Xin gently take hold of her other arm.

"Alice...be careful."

She flinched when she felt Xin closing in behind her. Her heart quickened its pace at the feeling of his chest against her back. Alice tightly gripped the doorknob until her knuckles turned white. Afraid of her own feelings, Alice squeezed her eyes shut and quickly opened up the door. Without looking back at him, she released herself from his grasp and slipped inside.

As soon as she slammed the door behind her, creating a much louder sound that she had wished for, Alice leaned back against the white wood of the door and slid down until she was sitting on the floor. Her heart beat almost uncontrollably as she sat there, breathing heavily and unevenly. Alice brought her hand up to her mouth in an attempt to calm herself down. In her mind, she continuously told herself that she only loved Dante, but her feelings were starting to waver.

Ever since she had arrived at Ossyria, it was Xin that stayed by her side even when Ada and Minna had to go their separate ways. Alice almost considered him to be somewhat like an older brother figure to both her and Sean since he was around them so often.

_"I've already liked him before! I've moved past that!"_

Alice found herself thinking back to the night when Dante had consoled her after her sudden confession to Xin. She could remember the warmth of his body as he draped his long coat over her head and pulled her close. The weight of his arms around her body was ever so present. She shivered as she brought her hands up to hug herself, trying to mimic his touch, trying to trick her mind into thinking it was him. Squeezing her eyes shut painfully, Alice tried to imagine him once more, but it was useless. It had been three long years since she had seen him and the very last image she had of him was his dying face.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Alice hit herself on the head with her fists. She then buried her eyes in them, feeling nothing, but confusion. Alice sat there in that position for several minutes in complete silence. Finally, she raised her head and muttered to herself, "stop acting this way..."

* * *

><p>"Ah...I hope my sister's not back from her quest yet. She'll be mad when she finds out I've been out late again," Sean mumbled, looking up at the starry night sky.<p>

The husky barked as it followed closely behind him and Meg.

"Don't worry! You make your sister sound so mean! Last time I saw her, she was so nice!" Meg exclaimed.

Sean pursed his lips a little and shot her a glare. At this, Meg giggled and gently patted the top of his head, causing him to blush.

"I'm sorry. If she gets mad, then say you were just treating a pretty girl to some sundaes!"

"That's embarrassing! Like I would say that!"

"But that's what you really did!"

"Only because you said I owed you for healing my hands during training!"

Meg stuck out her tongue at the young boy in a playful manner. "You shouldn't get hurt so much then! You're so fragile, like a girl!" She took hold of his wrist and held it up to his face. "See? You're so thin!"

Immediately turning a beet red, Sean turned his face away from her and shouted, "s-so what?" He mentally hit himself for such a weak comeback. "When I complete my warrior training...I'll be stronger!"

"Whatever you say, Sean." Meg giggled. She suddenly reached up to the black band that held Sean's thin ponytail together and pulled it off in one fluid motion. Sean didn't even realize it until he saw her skip in front of him, holding it out in front of his face. "Catch me if you can!" she called out, getting a running start.

Sean widened his blue eyes at the sight of his band and reached up to find that his ponytail had indeed, been freed. He ran after her, with his black and white husky following closely behind, barking happily. "Meg! Give it back!" Sean whined helplessly.

"You're so slow, Sean! You'll never get it back if you keep this up!" Meg held his band up like some sort of victory prize high above her head.

They both ran down the white cobblestone streets of Orbis, without much of a care for other people who they passed by. Meg laughed in delight as Sean chased her and in turn, Sean forgot all about the fact that she had his band. He started to laugh as well, still chasing after her. It wasn't until they both reached Meg's house, that Sean finally caught up to her, but only because she had stopped. They both broke into a fit of laughter as Sean pounced on her, holding her tightly from behind.

"Who are you calling slow?"

"You only caught up cause I stopped!" Meg stifled her laughter to try and wipe away her tears.

Sean unintentionally, cuddled in closer to her, burying his nose into her hair. He caught a whiff of a sweet, fruity scent before he suddenly pulled away. His heart skipped a beat just before he let her go.

"Sean...?" Meg curiously turned around to face him, still trying to control her laughter. "What's wrong?"

"I...I..." Sean stuttered, trying to find a good explanation as to his sudden change in behavior. He played with his hands, wringing them and pulling at his slender fingers. Trying his best to hide his sudden uneasiness, Sean took a step back, away from the light of the lantern hanging in front of Meg's house. He had hoped that she couldn't see his face because he felt a hot blush creeping up his neck.

Meg stepped closer to him, tilting her head slightly in confusion. "You're acting strangely, Sean."

The young boy shook his head quickly in denial. "I'm not! I just...I..." He glanced up at her face shyly and then looked away. "Sorry! Goodnight!" With that, Sean ran away as fast as his legs could carry him. He could hear his pet husky following behind him, its blunt nails making light tapping noises with each step.

Once Sean reached his house, he bent down and rested his hands on his knees. He panted heavily. His throat burned up and his heart pounded heavily in his chest. Sean wiped away the sweat that had collected on his upper lip as he looked back down the street from where he had came from. There was no doubt in his mind that Meg was utterly confused and that she would demand an explanation for his behavior from him later on.

Sean let out a sigh and looked down at the energetic husky, happily wagging its tail as it looked back up at him. "I guess you can't tell me why I'm acting this way, could you Dante?" He bent down to rub the top of the dog's head.

The husky barked once, tipping its head back to lick at Sean's palm.

Laughing, Sean scratched one of its ears. "Yeah...Meg is really special...isn't she?"

* * *

><p>The surrounding air was brutally cold, but he didn't mind it at all. His body felt hot as soon as he lay waste to another Miner Zombie. The brittle body of the zombie fell to its knees just behind him. It soon turned into a gold colored dust.<p>

The man glanced back at the path that he had just walked down from and saw the number of zombies that he had killed. It was almost uncountable. At this, he smirked.

Another chilly wind swept through the Dead Mines. It was like a refreshing glass of water for him as it cooled down his body. He opened up his Dark Pirate shirt a little bit more, allowing his skin to feel the cold wind. Just as he was about to take another step into the mines, he heard the sound of a low roar ahead of him. Immediately, the man saw another horde of Miner Zombies slowly making their way towards him. Their rotting, diseased skin barely clung to their bones. Their dry lips began to moisten with saliva as they laid eyes on him.

It was a sight that would have most people running for their lives, but the single man that now faced them, simply let out a low laugh.

"Nice," he whispered, securely fastening his Varkit dagger around his wrist. "Still want a piece of me?"

His green eyes gleamed, showing no signs of fear or hesitance. Just as the zombies were only a few feet away from him, he leaped into action.

The horde immediately began to deteriorate as countless numbers of bodies fell to the ground. He was nothing more than a green blur, moving swiftly and with great accuracy. His dagger pinpointed the weak spots of each zombie. He slashed and stabbed without missing a beat.

In mere minutes, the horde of zombies were dead. Each one had turned into dust.

"Too easy," the bandit said, chuckling at his work. He turned towards the inner caverns of the mine and walked in further. There were no signs of any other zombies, but he did feel a slight warm draft.

He soon arrived at the source of the warm draft. There was a sharp cliff where the mine ended. A mangled mine cart track hung right over the edge. As he walked closer, he could see down below that the ground was a dull red color. He assumed that he was getting close to his initial destination.

"I guess I'm getting closer to the altar."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Okay, would you guys like it if I updated this story on Friday? Just so that you guys could read it over the weekend. I'm not talking about EVERY Friday, but whenever I update, would it be better for me to upload a chapter on Fridays? I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm assuming that a majority of you guys that read this story are in school right now and you probably don't have time to read anything during the week. _

_I would like to update this story faster, but I do also have other activities and appointments to keep, so unfortunately, I'll have to update this story maybe once a month. (If it's a good day, maybe twice a month). _

_Mapleized - Thanks! I corrected the mistakes that you've pointed out. Lia's the first character that I've written who's blind so I sometimes forget haha. _

_RaeyaK - Responding to one of the reviews you left me on my first story, yes, Fragments will explain what happened to Dante's parents and why there's no record of them in the AEgis archives. _

_Please review! _


	5. Seeds Of The World Tree

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 5 - Seeds of the World Tree**

"Why are we even continuously asking for her help? It's obvious that she has no intentions to help us."

Athena shot Dark a little glare before she regained her calm composure and looked down at the scroll she was reading. "Perhaps I should send Dances with Balrog or Grendel to talk to Kyrin."

"Are you saying that it's _my_ fault that she doesn't want to join us?"

"You're not very persuasive, Dark. I suppose that, that is the reason why-" The elven archer was cut short when the pearly white doors of the council hall opened up, revealing Grendel. Athena stood up from her seat, her silky green and white robes flowing gracefully. "Grendel, we haven't seen you in weeks."

"My apologies," he chuckled softly. "I had some business to take care of in the Ludibrium Library. Sorry, was I needed?" he inquired as he walked towards the other two leaders.

"No. I was just beginning to worry. Usually you would leave some sort of a message behind if you knew you were going to disappear for a long period of time."

Grendel smiled, deepening the fine wrinkles he had on his face. He took a seat adjacent of Dark and cleared his throat softly before speaking. "The matter was quite urgent it seemed."

"How so?" Athena asked, sitting back down in her chair.

"Matters concerning the _first_ World Tree."

Both Athena and Dark were immediately curious as to what Grendel had to say. Dark leaned in slightly, obviously interested. He turned to Athena and asked her, "didn't you send one of our platoon leaders to investigate that?"

"Oh?" Grendel asked, taking off his white, pointed hat and setting it down on the white marble long table.

Athena sighed softly and rolled up the scroll in front of her. "We sent a platoon leader to look into the first World Tree's remains. We're hoping to unlock some secrets of the tree. I feel as if that might be the only way we could stop Krylin's reign over Victoria Island where the second World Tree is. I just hope that Krylin did not harness the power of the World Tree before we do."

The old mage quietly nodded his head. "Are you hoping to find the seed? I don't mean to discourage you, but finding the seeds are extremely rare."

"It's worth a try. It's better than doing nothing." Athena gently closed her icy blue eyes. "If the goddesses are looking over us..." she muttered under her breath.

Dark glanced at the elf before switching his gaze over to Grendel. "What exactly would acquiring the seeds do?"

"No...just _a seed_. Just one seed can allow someone to harness the power of the World Tree."

* * *

><p>A soft knock at the front door alerted the husky that was napping on Alice's feet. Its black and white ears perked up and immediately walked over to the door.<p>

"Were you expecting anyone, Sean?" Alice asked curiously, getting up from the small dining table.

Her brother stopped stirring the vegetable soup he was cooking and turned around, shaking his head. "I don't think so." He silently hoped that it wasn't Meg wanting to talk to him about what had happened between them last night.

Alice shrugged and opened up the door. "Oh! Lia!"

Sean let out a little sigh of relief before he turned back to the stove.

"What brings you here?" Alice asked her platoon leader, inviting her into the house.

Lia smiled graciously before stepping in. "I said that I'd check up on you soon, didn't I? How's your leg? Is it healing alright?"

Alice nodded, shutting the door behind them. "Yes, it's healing up slowly. I have no trouble walking!"

"That's wonderful," the black haired mage gently patted Alice on the shoulder. She turned towards Sean and greeted him politely. "You must be Alice's brother."

"Y-Yes. Hello," Sean stuttered out. It was the first time that he had actually met his sister's platoon leader face to face. He had heard from her that she was blind and at first, Sean didn't believe her. But seeing the bandages that were covering Lia's eyes, convinced him. "I-I'm sorry...but are you really blind?" he asked.

Lia laughed lightly before responding. "Yes, very much so."

Sean wanted to ask her further if Athena allowed her to remain a platoon leader even if her vision was disabled, but he thought that it would be insensitive and rude.

"Are you planning to join the Aegis after you graduate?"

"Yes."

"Perhaps you'll be in my platoon someday."

Sean smiled back at Lia, blushing slightly. He found her be quite graceful in her manner of speech and her voice to be calming. She was almost the perfect example of a motherly figure. "U-Uhm," Sean stuttered out shyly.

"Yes?"

"I...I know this is a really random question, but...do you have any kids?"

Alice looked at Lia. Truthfully, she was rather curious about this as well. She assumed that Sean had picked up on Lia's gentle mannerisms which were suitable for a mother. Alice blinked in confusion when she saw Lia flinch at the question. However, the black haired mage quickly regained her composure and smiled. "Yes, I did," she replied curtly.

"Did?" Alice asked, getting drawn into the conversation.

The fire mage flashed a little faint smile. "I do not know what happened to him."

"Oh..."

"Why do you ask?"

Sean quickly shook his head and laughed. "Sorry, it's just that...you're really nice and you don't seem like the type that'd yell too much!"

Lia chuckled. "You're quite honest, Sean. If my son was alive, I would like to think that he would be like you."

Overwhelmed by the compliment, Sean blushed, thankful that she couldn't see him doing so, and bowed his head while playing with the end of his ponytail.

"Are you busy, Alice?" Lia asked, turning her attention over to her martyr.

"Eh?"

"Athena has asked me to take you to the council building. She requested it urgently."

"Oh, alright then." Alice looked at Sean, silently asking him if it was okay to leave. He simply waved his hand, telling her to go. It wasn't like she could really help out with the cooking anyways.

* * *

><p>The night sky was filled with a countless number of stars. Even with their sheer numbers, Alice couldn't help, but admire the soft light from the moon in the distance.<p>

"It's beautiful, isn't it? I'm sure that it's easier to see the stars from Orbis than from any other place in the world." Lia commented. Before Alice could ask her, Lia quickly spoke up. "I remember the stars and how the night sky looked before I went blind. It's really astounding."

"Did you live in Orbis back then?" Alice asked.

"No," Lia chuckled as if she was remembering a fond memory. "I lived in Henesys, but I was sent to Ossyria many times for quests. Back then, the Aegis wasn't as organized as it is now. Only Grendel and few of the older platoon leaders were in charge of everything, but then again...back then...there wasn't that much conflict as there is now."

"...It sounds nice," Alice muttered, kicking away a rock in her path. She watched it roll off to the side of the cobblestone road. "I wish the war was over, but...seeing as how things are now..."

"The war will be over, if we give up. However, I'm sure that it isn't the type of ending that you would like." The fire mage sighed and turned to Alice. "I'm sure that you want to live a normal life, without the conflicts, without the fighting...but that won't be possible if you choose to give up now." Lia smiled and continued to talk. "I'm also sure that you would want to be married someday, perhaps even have children of your own and have the comfort of a family."

"E-Eh? Well...I'm not sure about _that_..." Alice blushed and held the back of her head. "That seems too sudden!"

"Oh?" Lia could tell that Alice was deeply embarrassed at the very prospect of marriage and children. It was amusing to listen to her martyr's flustered speech. "Maybe things are different than when I was your age." She laughed softly. "I was only a martyr back then...but I met this man. I thought he was somewhat of a brute, but then as I befriended him, he turned out to be gentle and kind."

The blue haired girl saw Lia's soft pink lips turned up in a modest smile. "Did...you like him?"

"You could say so. We did get married after all. He was truly wonderful. I loved him from the bottom of my heart."

At this point, Alice knew that Lia lived alone in the Aegis barracks. Hearing Lia speak only words of praise of her husband, Alice could only assume that something had happened to him; something awful. She was curious to the fate of him, but she hesitated on asking Lia, fearing that it would be wrong of her to dig up something painful.

Fortunately for her, Lia continued her story herself.

"When the war with against the darkness started, the battles were fierce. My husband and I were both platoon leaders then and we had already had our first child." Lia laughed again, her voice slightly trembling. "He was precious to us... and we wanted to do anything we can to protect him. If he was alive today...he would look just like my husband."

Alice heard Lia's voice starting to crack and she knew that she was on the brink of tears. Quickly, Alice spoke up. "Lia...I think I can walk the rest of the way myself. You look tired."

"A-Ah...ye-yes. I'm sorry. That seems to be the case." Lia tried her best to laugh it off, pretending that nothing was wrong, but Alice knew fully well that something terrible had happened to both her husband and her son. "Please excuse me, Alice."

"It's no problem. Please get some rest."

Lia nodded, visibly trembling. She gave her head a little shake, hoping to rid herself of the sorrowful memories.

Alice touched her shoulder gently before sending Lia off. She stood there and watched the mage walk away until she turned a corner. For the whole time, Alice couldn't help, but wonder what really happened to Lia's family. Were they killed in one of the battles? That seemed to be the most logical explanation to everything.

"I shouldn't ask her anymore..." Alice muttered under her breath, turning around to head towards the council building. However, the curiosity gnawed at her mind. Alice suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked up at the sky. "...She's my platoon leader...I should know more about her."

* * *

><p>"I've been reading over Lia's report about your last quest."<p>

Alice nodded hesitantly, feeling as if Athena had something else to tell her, also feeling as if it wasn't anything good.

"Based on your report and Xin's report, it seems as though there isn't any army movement in the El Nath region. Not as much as we had expected anyways." Athena turned around to face Alice. Her long silvery blond hair flowed behind her elegantly. "Lia has informed me that you were injured during the quest. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Good." Athena flashed her a quick smile. Her expression then quickly changed. "Lia has informed about the enemy you've encountered during your scouting quest. She told me that you seemed to know more about them than she did, is that true?"

"The woman that attacked us...she had the same regeneration ability as Ivan. She even looked similar to him, like they were brother and sister." Alice paused when she saw a slight change in Athena's expression. The elf looked rather distressed. "Is...something wrong?"

Athena let out a wry chuckle and shook her head. "I guess Dr. Everard created another one when we weren't paying attention."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Widening her blue eyes, Alice stared at Athena curiously. "Did my mother..._create_ Ivan?"

"No one told you?" Athena asked, looking rather shocked. "Your mother is the head scientist for the bioweapons program at Omega Sector. For the Aegis, she spent the last few years creating a bioweapon."

"Ivan...?"

"Precisely. I can only imagine that she created another being like Ivan behind our backs. As for exactly what intent...I'm not too sure." Athena let out a soft sigh, trying to keep herself from thinking too hard on the subject. "In any case, Lia has told me there was another person that attacked you two."

Alice flinched at how Athena was looking at her. It was fixed gaze that was somewhat glaring. Does she already know who it is? Conflicted with deciding on whether or not to tell Athena the true identity of the man she has seen, Alice avoided her gaze. "Y-Yes...another person did attack us."

"Any idea who? Did you get a good look at them?"

The blue haired girl swallowed harshly. She felt as if this had turned into an interrogation. After stuttering a few times, Alice finally produced a _decent_ answer. "I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever seen him before."

"Did he tell you his name?"

Alice shook her head, still not meeting Athena's eyes. "He-He didn't say anything to us." The deafening silence after wards brought fear into her chest. She just knew that Athena had found her out. Would she get angry at her for withholding information?

"Hm," Athena started, causing Alice to flinch. "Is that so? Well...then it can't be helped. It must have been a scout with the woman that attacked you. Thank you Alice."

"Eh? N-No problem..."

The beautiful elf smiled at the spearman. "You're doing well to adjust." She walked over to Alice and placed her hand on her shoulder, comforting her. "I know it must have been hard for you to cope with Dante's passing."

Alice simply cracked a weak smile, still paranoid over the fact that Athena might see through her lie. "I-I've managed."

"Good. You're a strong girl, Alice." Athena gave her shoulder a little squeeze before releasing her. "I've informed Lia of your upcoming quest already. She will be briefing you on it in a few days."

"Ah, okay." Alice bowed a little in an awkward manner before she turned around to leave. The walk out of the council hall seemed to be excruciatingly longer than her walk in. All the while, she could feel Athena's eyes on her, causing her to feel even more nervous. It wasn't until she was out of the room, that she relaxed. A heavy sigh of relief escaped past her soft lips. She brought her hand up to her chest and held it there, feeling her heart thump wildly.

_"Calm down..." _Alice told herself, letting out another sigh in an attempt to steady herself. _"It's best if I don't tell anymore people of Dante until I'm sure he's alive." _

* * *

><p>He swept away his damp green bangs away from his eyes to try to get a better look at the altar before him. The intricate stone carvings were starting to fall apart. There were deep cracks embedded in it and some parts of the altar were uneven.<p>

As the green haired bandit walked closer for further inspection, he saw that an array of dark, black tree roots was the cause of the altar's broken state. His green eyes followed the roots up, to the rotting trunk of a tree, then to the very tips of the bare branches.

* * *

><p><em>"The seed of the World Tree?" <em>

_"Do I need to repeat the quest for you, Cedric?" _

_Cedric grinned boyishly and then laughed. "Of course not, Miss Athena." He waved his hand in a light gesture. This seemed to make Athena look at him with a glare of annoyance. Cedric quickly noticed this and simply laughed again. "Don't worry, I understand what I need to do." _

_"I hope that you do. It's a very important quest that I'm sending you on."_

_"Mind telling me just how important?" _

_Athena narrowed her eyes at Cedric again. He sighed lightly at this. _

_"Fine, fine, all I need to know is that it's very important, right?" _

_"As I've said," the elf replied back curtly. "You'll go to the altar of Zakum because that is where the last World Tree resided before it died. While the surroundings there are harsh, we have reason to believe that the seeds of the World Tree are capable of surviving." _

_"Miss Athena...no real disrespect here, but it's going to take forever to find a seed. I mean...it's really small, isn't it?" _

_"What is your point, Cedric?" _

_Cedric scratched at his head and pouted, seeing as how Athena's straightforwardness was getting him nowhere. "Nothing," he mumbled. _

_Athena rubbed her temple slowly with two fingers while closing her eyes. "Don't get sidetracked and such. If only your martyr was still here..." _

_"Who? Ada?" Cedric chuckled, waving his hand in the air. _

_"Yes, Ada. She kept you in line." _

* * *

><p>Cedric felt a little smile work its face across his face at the thought of the tomboyish assassin. He hadn't seen her in what seemed like years when it had only been a few months. After the invasion, Ada's parents had become more protective and attentive of her than before. Even though Cedric had spoken to her parents about her safety, they insisted that she quit the Aegis and come live with them in Magatia. It bothered him that Ada could only come up to Orbis once in a while to visit everyone.<p>

As he walked up onto the broken stone altar, Cedric kicked away a small stone and brought his hand up to his chin. "I wonder if Athena will notice if I make a quick trip to Magatia. Ah wait...but I don't know if it's a long trip there or not." Cedric silently thought about this as he walked around the altar chamber, trying to look for any signs of a seed. "Ada won't get mad if she sees me...would she?" He chuckled, kicking away another stone from his feet. "Of course not!" he exclaimed, reassuring himself.

Inhaling deeply, Cedric briefly stopped his rambling. As he exhaled slowly, the joyous smile on his face turned into that of a little smirk. His eyes looked over to his right and he lowly whispered, "why don't you come out from there? You're not very good at hiding your mana, aren't you?"

The bandit remained rooted to the ground until he heard the dull sound of footsteps coming up from behind him. At the silence, Cedric asked, "what? Nothing to say?" He turned around, facing his opponent. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to-"

Suddenly, Cedric's eyes widened and his whole mind went into shock. If his dagger was one that he had to actually hold, he would have dropped it. "-Are you kidding me?" he stuttered out. Cedric took a step back. "...Dante? Is that you?" he managed to gasp out.

The black haired archer remained silent, keeping a steady gaze on Cedric. His red eyes didn't move away from the bandit as he raised up his Dark Arund. Without a single word, he allowed a bright light to consume his bow.

Cedric, still in shock over seeing his supposedly dead friend, stood there transfixed. He saw a multiple array of feathered wings unfold from the center of the bow. Once the last wing unfolded, Cedric finally stepped forward and yelled, "Dante! What the hell are you doing?"

The last thing that Cedric heard after that was the high pitched whistling sounds of multiple arrows flying towards him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Sorry for the short chapter and for updating on a Tuesday. I know it's been a while since my last update and I apologize for making you guys wait this long for such a short chapter. _

_Next chapter will be longer (I hope). _

_Also, I have to show how appreciative I am about finding at least two other fanfics in the MapleStory section that have stated they were inspired by this story. I just have to say, thank you to you guys. I also have to mention ThanhnuFia because she drew quite a few drawings of my characters. They're all very lovely, so I suggest you guys go check them out! _

_Anyways...please review! If I get a generous amount of reviews this time, I'll update this story by this Saturday! _


	6. Red Butterfly

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 6 - Red Butterfly**

An arrow barely missed him as he landed on top of one of the stone platforms inside the altar chamber. Cedric peered down at Dante, who stared back at him with an impassive stare.

"Dante! It's me! Cedric!"

The archer raised his bow and shot out another storm of arrows at him. Cedric jumped away from the platform just in time to dodge the arrows. He landed on another similar platform a few feet away from the other one. "Dante!" he called out again, frustrated with how the archer was unresponsive to him. The bandit clenched his fists and whispered to himself, "fine then. You leave me no choice." He adjusted the Varkit dagger that was fastened around his wrist before leaping into action.

Quick on his feet, Cedric landed on the ground level to Dante and rushed towards him. Dante seemed to immediately notice this and turned around, shooting out dozens of arrows at a time trying to hit the agile bandit. However, none of the arrows hit Cedric, not even grazed him.

Just as Dante moved to shoot out another array of arrows, Cedric closed in on him and kicked him squarely in the stomach, sending Dante to the ground. The black haired man slid on the ground a few feet from the impact of the kick. Cedric wondered if he had kicked him too hard since he wasn't getting back up. Curiously, he walked over to the fallen man. He quickly stopped when Dante moved and pushed himself up off the ground.

"Dante! Can you even hear me? Why are you doing this?"

Dante looked back at Cedric with his hazed over red eyes, still impassive as ever. He got back up on his feet soon after, looking as though the kick had not even fazed him.

"Damn it, you bastard! You better not be joking around!" Cedric cried out, rushing towards the archer again. He brought back the arm that had the dagger and attempted to stab Dante in the arms. His only goal was to keep Dante from attacking him.

In a blur, Dante disappeared and then reappeared on one of the higher stone platforms in the chamber. His red eyes looked down at Cedric, who was surprised at how quick he was.

The green haired bandit grit his teeth while he looked up at his friend. "Don't tell me Krylin got to you!" he shouted up at him. "She did, didn't she?" Not only did Dante's unresponsiveness annoy Cedric, but the steaming hot air around him added to his irritation. He knew that he couldn't stay down there much longer. "You're not Dante! You can't be Dante!" Cedric jumped up to the platform and disappeared in midair, right in front of Dante.

In a blink of an eye, Cedric reappeared on the small platform. As soon as his feet touched the stone, his dagger stabbed forward and pinned Dante's coat by the sleeve. Cedric shook as he let out uneven breaths. He kept Dante pinned to the wall as he slowly raised his head to meet the archer's eyes. "Wake up, Dante. Damn it...I know you're in there." Desperately, Cedric searched his friend's face for some sort of a reaction, but Dante remained emotionless. "Talk to me!" the green haired bandit shouted angrily. "Say something!...Anything." Cedric lowered his voice down to a whisper.

There was a brief moment silence. Cedric bowed his head, trying desperately to imagine his friend speaking to him and he wasn't in the current state that he was in.

Dante suddenly raised his hand up, very slowly, and wrapped it around Cedric's wrist.

Surprised, Cedric raised his head to look at Dante again, but almost immediately, he felt himself being slammed into the hard stone wall. Dante had swung him to the side by the arm. Cedric gasped at the force of the impact. The wall behind him broke and crumbled, leaving a small crater. Cedric slumped to the ground, groaning and coughing. Pain shot through his body and lingered in his bones. He wiped away a bit of blood on his lips and looked up at Dante, who towered over him. Was he always this strong?

Cedric moved to get up on his feet, but Dante promptly stopped him by slamming his foot down on the bandit's shoulder. He grunted in pain and grit his teeth as he looked up at the blank face of his friend. "Dante..." Cedric whispered out, taking ahold of Dante's ankle. "I don't want to hurt you. I know you're in there somewhere. Even when I thought you were dead...-" Grunting at the fact that Dante stepped down harder on him, Cedric tightened his grip on the archer's ankle. "-and even now...I won't attack you because I know you're still my friend." Cedric didn't see any sort of reaction on Dante's face. At this, he scoffed lightly. "What am I doing, Dante? I'm talking to you like you could hear me."

Suddenly, Dante widened his eyes and let out a soft gasp. He took his foot off of Cedric and stepped back.

Confused as to what was happening, Cedric sat there against the wall and watched as Dante clutched at his chest. The archer panted heavily and let out soft cries of deep pain. He fell to his knees and eventually had to support himself on his hand. Cedric got up slowly to his feet. "Dante...?"

Dante's long black hair fell over his shoulders, hiding his face from Cedric.

"Dante!" Cedric couldn't just stand by and watch his friend go down in pain. He ran up to his side and knelt down. "Dante, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Promptly, the archer stopped trembling and remained still. He grew quiet and his rugged breaths fell silent.

"Dante-?" The bandit widened his eyes in surprise when Dante suddenly reached out and grabbed him around the neck. Before he knew it, the archer was on top of him, his hands tightly around his slender neck. "Damn it...Dante!" Cedric coughed out. He brought his own hands up and tried to shove him off. With the heat combined with the steady loss of oxygen, Cedric felt light headed and his vision started to blur. "Dante...stop-!"

Tightening his grip around Cedric's neck, Dante remained silent. His red eyes fixated blankly on the green haired bandit, struggling to free himself.

Cedric knew that Dante was not going to stop. His words obviously were not getting through to him. Mustering up all of his focus and strength, Cedric clenched his fist and punched Dante hard across the face. He quickly got up after the archer went down to the ground. Cedric tried to steady his ragged breaths as he looked down at his friend.

"I can't believe you let Krylin win, Dante..." he panted out.

Dante slowly got up to his feet and impassively stared at the green haired man. He turned his head over to his discarded bow and calmly walked over to it. As he bent down to pick it up, a lone tobi flew through the air and hit the ground next to the bow. Dante looked over to where Cedric stood and narrowed his eyes.

"Tell me you're not Dante! Tell me you're not my friend!" Cedric cried out as he ran forward, with his Varkit poised for attack. He slashed at him, barely grazing Dante's cheek. Swiftly, he turned around and aimed another stab at the archer's chest.

Dante dodged it easily and jumped up into the air. A bright sunburst of light shined just above Dante's left shoulder.

The bandit moved to attack, but quickly stopped himself when he saw a bright red phoenix emerge from the bright light. It let out a loud screech and dove down directly at him.

There was a loud explosion followed by the sound of fire crackling away. Cedric stood a few feet away from the burning wooden dummy that laid where he once stood. If it weren't for his Shadow Shifter, he would have been caught in the phoenix's inferno.

Cedric turned his attention back to where Dante was, but found that he had disappeared. Frustrated and angry, Cedric tightly clenched his fists by his sides. He had no doubt in his mind that, that was Dante. However, at the same time, he felt as if that _wasn't_ Dante.

"Who was that?" Cedric asked himself under his breath. He turned his attention back to the burning wooden dummy. As the flames slowly reduced it down to a smoldering pile of ash, Cedric looked off to the side and noticed Dante's Dark Arund. He had forgotten to take it with him.

The bandit walked over to the weapon and gently touched the warm black steel. He took the sturdy bow into his hands. Softly, he muttered, "Dante...what happened to you?"

* * *

><p><em>"Do you understand? You can never be as advanced as her." <em>

_"You will never be able to compete with her." _

_"She is free of the flaws that you have." _

_"Ivan? Was that what you were called? Is that what you wish to be called? Come. I'll treat you like how you should be treated." _

The overlapping voices of Dr. Everard and Krylin blurred together inside of Ivan's head until he couldn't tell them apart. They were speaking gibberish and he wanted it all to stop.

"Ivan?"

His eyes shot open and as if it were out of a reflex, he reached up and grabbed Minna's wrist tightly. This startled the cleric greatly.

"Ivan? What's wrong?" She noticed his soft, labored breathing. "Did you have a bad dream?" Minna gently knelt down on the cold snow next to him. She released herself from his grip and took his hand, clasping it in between her own. "It's okay now...?" she asked, bringing his hand to her face.

Ivan's breathing calmed down and his heart slowed down. His green eye relaxed as his cold palm touched Minna's cheek. Quietly, he nodded. "Yeah..."

Minna smiled at him. Her small hands kept his hand against her cheek. "Your hands are so cold. Should we head back?"

"We have to finish the assignment for the day," he replied.

"Oh..." Minna fidgeted a little, a bit upset with Ivan's brief response. "R-Right...we should."

The blonde gunslinger noticed the tinge of sadness in her voice. He looked away, feeling a bit shy. "Sorry."

"Huh?"

Ivan turned back to her and gave her a soft kiss. Before Minna could lean in more, he pulled away much faster than she wanted him to. He reached forward and cleared away her strawberry blond locks from her face. "Tonight..."

"Wh-What?" The cleric immediately blushed heavily. "T-T-Tonight?"

"I want to get rid of these voices in my head," Ivan whispered, looking away.

"What voices?"

With a soft gaze that simply melted Minna right down to the core, Ivan looked at her and then gently cupped her face. "I want to fill myself up with you."

Minna nearly felt like falling over in the snow. "I-Ivan! Do you know what you're saying?" she exclaimed, flustered and embarrassed. "This is so sudden-!" She let out a little surprised sound when he suddenly pulled her close for a tight hug.

"What do I do?" he whispered, burying his face into the side of her smooth neck. His hold around her tightened, but not so much that it was uncomfortable.

Her heart pounded painfully inside of her chest. Minna trembled when he lightly kissed her neck. She wanted nothing more than to provide an answer for him. He sounded so helpless and lost, like a small puppy. "Ivan..." she blushed as she pulled away just slightly so that she could get a look at him. Minna saw his beautiful emerald green eye staring up at her. They seemed to pierce straight through her. "I'll...I'll help you, okay?" she whispered. Lovingly, she cradled his face and swept away the long bangs that covered his eyepatch.

Ivan shivered when she gently ran her thumb over the area that covered his eye.

A sad smile crossed over Minna's delicate face. "It...still hasn't healed?" When Ivan remained silent, Minna already knew the answer. She bowed her head and whispered, "it's never going to heal, is it?"

"You expect too much," Ivan muttered, kissing her softly.

"I'm just worried!" she suddenly exclaimed, clutching onto the soft leather of his brown overcoat. "Ever since Krylin hurt your eye, you couldn't heal yourself!" Minna felt him gently bring his hand up to her face. He placed it on her cheek and in a smooth motion, he tucked away a lock of her wavy orange hair behind her small ear.

"That's why I need you now more than ever."

"Huh?"

"You'll heal me, right...? Not just the injuries I get on my body..."

Minna looked down and away from Ivan in embarrassment. She blushed softly and after a few seconds, she nodded shyly. "I promise to."

Ivan brought her in for a tight hug. He buried his nose into her soft, strawberry blond hair and took in her sweet scent. With her thin arms wrapped around him, he felt safe and comforted. The voices of Dr. Everard and Krylin seemed to fade away into the deep recesses of his mind, but they were far from being buried away forever. His past still haunted him and he still didn't know why.

* * *

><p>A sharp arrow pierced through the air, whistling before it hit the dead center of a wooden target.<p>

Sean caught Meg ogling Ciel again. "It's weird to stalk people, you know." Sean commented, coming up from behind Meg.

The cleric jumped at the sound of his voice and whipped around. Her entire face was a bright red from being found out. "Sh-Shut up! I'm not stalking her! I told you! I just admire her strength!"

"She's not _that_ great," he muttered, feeling a tinge of jealousy inside of him.

"Hmph!" Meg stood up from her "secret" hiding spot that was behind the bushes and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're just jealous!"

"What?" Sean shouted, incredulously, turning red himself. "Quit making stuff up!" He immediately began to play with the end of his ponytail out of pure habit and Meg quickly picked up on this.

"Look! You're playing with your hair again! You're lying!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Yuh huh!"

As their small tirade continued, neither of them noticed that Ciel had picked up on them. The lithe archer walked over to them coolly and stood next to them with a rather impassive gaze. It took both Sean and Meg a few minutes to even realize the elf was next to them.

It was Meg that noticed her first. She immediately blushed and stammered out, "o-oh! Ciel! We were just-"

The pale blond elf lowered her head and said in a low muttering voice, "please don't spy on me while I'm training."

"But-"

"You two should go train with the rest of your classes. It's not good to be slacking off especially in times like these."

Before Meg could get another word in, Ciel walked away. At this, Sean let out a little scoff in disbelief. "I can't believe you find her admirer-able."

The blond cleric blushed heavily as she shot him an annoyed glare. "Shut up," she snapped out. Frankly, Meg herself didn't know why she was so fixated on the elven archer. She felt drawn to Ciel's presence as if some unknown force was pushing her towards her. Meg felt a little ache inside of her chest the more she thought about Ciel. She cocked her head a little, finding the ache to be a little painful. Before she could think about it any longer, the pain subsided.

Sean seemed oblivious to this, but Meg did do a good job at hiding it.

"-I'm just saying, she seems a bit odd to me."

"H-Huh?" Meg widened her crystal blue eyes at Sean. "Sorry, were you saying something?"

The blue haired boy sighed tiredly and scratched the back of his head. "At least listen to me even when you're upset. Ignoring me isn't going to help you know."

Meg wrinkled her brow when Sean's voice began to dim in volume, down to the point where she could barely make out what he was saying. Her vision began to blur, mixing Sean together with the forest background. Was she going insane? What was happening?

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Sean grabbed her by the shoulders when Meg started to stumble on her feet. "Meg? Meg!" He caught her in his arms when she fell forward. "Meg! What's wrong?" he asked, panicking.

"S-Sean? This is you, right?"

"Of course it's me! What are you asking that question for?"

"I...uhm..." Meg felt like crying. Nothing like this had never happened before and just so suddenly, she had already lost her sense of hearing and she was about to lose her vision. It all frightened her greatly. She clung to Sean tightly, afraid to let go of him.

Then, suddenly, everything went back to normal. Meg blinked as her hearing returned and her vision cleared up again. She could hear Sean's terrified voice and she looked up to see his worried expression. "S-Sean..." she stuttered out, still recovering from the mysterious ordeal.

"Meg!" Sean exclaimed, holding her tightly. "What happened?"

"I...-" At this moment, Meg decided to lie. She felt as if Sean would panic even more if she told him the truth. "I guess I should eat a bit more, huh?"

"What...?"

"I've been dieting a little. I guess I should eat," Meg giggled lightly, hoping to play it off.

Sean looked at her as if she were crazy. His dark blue eyes still shimmered with worry and deep concern.

"I'm fine, Sean! Honest!"

"If you say so..." Sean muttered, letting go of her. Helping her up on her feet, Sean warily kept an eye on her. "Don't scare me like that."

"Huh? Sean...I told you, it's nothing serious-" Meg stopped talking when she saw his serious expression. He looked genuinely concerned for her. She smiled at him, hiding her own worries about what just happened. "Don't worry, Sean," she started softly, "it's nothing. Promise."

* * *

><p>The air smelled fresh and clean in the park. It chilled Alice's senses and purified her mind. The past week had been extremely stressful and confusing to her. She let out a tired sigh and bunched up her white cotton pants in her small fists. A cool night breeze swept through Orbis Park. Somewhere in the distance, Alice could hear the light-hearted melodies sung by the star and moon pixies.<p>

At the moment, not only was she doubting herself on whether or not she actually saw Dante, but her head swam with confusion about Xin's sudden advancements towards her. Ever since they had arrived in Ossyria after escape from Victoria Island, Xin had been nothing more than a big brother figure to her. That's all he was and Alice did her best to remind herself that. He was her support whenever she felt angry or sad about Dante's death.

Her brow was furrowed in confusion and frustration as she tried to sort through her racing thoughts and feelings.

_"I want to love Dante...only him, but..." _

It was hard to keep feelings for him when he wasn't around. Not being able to see him everyday like she used to, was starting to have an effect on her feelings.

"What do I do? What _should _I do?" Alice tilted her head back to look up at the starry night sky. Her soft blue bangs fell over her eyes, prickling her. "Dante?" she whispered after a long period of silence. "Are you out there somewhere, Dante?"

Even though she wasn't expecting a response, it pained her heart when her ears met nothing, but silence.

"Why can I accept the fact that you're de-" Alice bite her tongue, unable to finish her sentence. Slowly, she lowered her head and whispered under her breath, "-dead," she finished.

Tears stung her eyes, but Alice tried to hold them back. She told herself to stop crying. She had cried enough and she was simply tired of it.

A single tear flowed down her cheek and Alice quickly wiped it away. Even when she wasn't sleeping, her mind began to play through the horrifying moment of when Dante died in her arms. It played through like a excruciatingly painful slideshow, each scene leaving an even larger imprint into her mind.

She could feel his warm blood on her hands. But wait, has that really happened?

Whimpering, Alice held herself and curled up into a ball on the white park bench. She wanted nothing more than for those images to stop. Not only were they consuming her mind, but they were starting to cloud up the good memories she had with Dante.

* * *

><p>The cobalt black metal showed her reflection clearly as she looked down at it. "Are you sure that it's his?" Athena looked over at Cedric, who stood before her. He had a solemn expression on his face as he nodded.<p>

"I can't mistake the weapon that was held by my best friend. It's his and I did see him."

Athena sighed through her nose and closed her eyes. "Cedric...you know that he's been dead for over three years now."

Cedric widened his eyes and looked at her in disbelief. "I'm not seeing things if that's what you're implying, Miss Athena!"

"I'm not implying anything. I'm simply stating that it's possible that you were mistaken."

"I just told you! There's no mistake! I did see Dante! How could I not even recognize my own friend?" Cedric shouted angrily, getting frustrated. "There's no proof that he actually died!"

Athena narrowed her ice blue eyes at him in a steady glare. "Bite your tongue, Cedric. I refuse to be spoken to in that tone."

Swallowing his anger, Cedric grit his teeth and clenched his fists. "I'm...sorry," he whispered out in between his teeth.

"I understand your frustration. Dante was your close friend and it must have been a great deal of shock to you when he died. As of right now, we cannot actually prove that he's still alive and out there somewhere until we can prove that who you saw was indeed him. Krylin is very capable of manipulating your thoughts by using Dante as your weak point. Do not fall for it," Athena said firmly, lacing her thin fingers together. "Did he say anything to you?"

"Nothing."

"At all?"

Cedric opened his mouth, but found that no words were coming out. It took him a while for him to reply. "He..." Cedric paused briefly. His voice was hoarse as he struggled to form his words properly. "He acted as if he didn't even know me, like we weren't even friends."

The elf lowered her eyes and muttered, "I'm afraid then...even if it really was Dante, it's too late for him now."

Surprised at what Athena was saying, the green haired bandit sharply raised his head and shouted, "how could you say that?"

"If Dante did not even acknowledge you, it's either an illusion that Krylin has crafted or she has reanimated his dead body. I'm sure you are well aware of the undead soldiers she has used against use in the past few years."

It made his stomach churn when Cedric listened to her compare the Dante that he had fought with one of the mindless _zombies_ in Krylin's army. Not wishing to speak about this matter any further, he turned around and strode out of the council room before Athena could say anything else.

Once outside, Cedric let out a harsh, trembling breath and buried his face in his hands. Thoughts began to race through his head. What if Athena was right? What if Dante really was under Krylin's complete control now? And to add to all that, it sounded as if Athena was not completely sold on the fact that Dante is "alive."

"What the fuck am I supposed to do?" Cedric whispered through his clenched teeth. His brow was wrinkled in frustration and his fingers were tangled in his green hair. He had no doubt in his mind that who he saw was Dante, his friend, but he had no idea who it was that he had fought.

* * *

><p>"Alice...? Are you sleeping?"<p>

Something was tickling her nose. Alice slowly opened up her eyes and blinked as her vision was blurry. She groaned softly as she got up.

"You can't sleep in a place like this."

She heard a low chuckle, a man's. Alice looked around and found herself in a small meadow, filled with tiny white flowers. In amazement, she slowly got up. Her blue eyes looked around and scanned the area. There were soft rolling hills in the distance and the grassy lands seemed to extend far into the distance.

"Where am I?" she asked herself quietly. Alice felt as if her mind was in a fuzz. She held her head for a little while, hoping that the spinning sensation would soon pass.

In the corner of her vision, she saw the light fluttering wings of a red butterfly. Alice turned to look at it flutter by in front of her. It's wings had black streaks on them, all criss-crossing in a mesmerizing pattern. It looked beautiful as it fluttered its wings, flying past her.

Just as the crimson butterfly flew far away, out of her sight, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her body.

Alice gasped in surprise, but she did not scream or attempt to run away. For some reason, she felt instant comfort in those arms. Sinking into the warmth, Alice leaned back against the person holding her. Gently, she closed her eyes and relished the warmth. Even if she did not turn around to see the person's face, nor did she hear his voice, Alice already knew who it was. There was no one else in the world that would hold her this gently and provide such a welcoming warmth. There was no one else that she _wanted_ to hold her like this.

"Dante..." she whispered, smiling as she raised her hands up to touch the bare arms wrapped around her shoulders.

* * *

><p>"Alice...? Are you sleeping?"<p>

Xin stumbled upon her by chance. It was late and he had just stopped by her house to talk with her, but when her little brother said that she wasn't home, he went out looking for her.

He sighed tiredly, but smiled when he saw her sleeping soundly upon the park bench. Quietly, he made his way towards her and knelt down. Xin reached out and touched her face, brushing past the tip of her nose with his knuckles. "You can't sleep in a place like this," he chuckled.

Trying not to wake her, Xin moved to pick her up. He heard her mumble something inaudible, but he assumed that she was just sleeptalking.

He easily lifted her thin, lithe body up and carried her in his arms. Almost immediately, he saw her smile, still asleep. She cuddled up close to him, clutching onto his chest.

"...Dante..." she whispered, still smiling.

Xin, taken aback, watched as she leaned her head against him and sighed happily. Gently, he tightened his hold around her and lowered his head. Placing a kiss on the top of her head, he smiled and whispered to her, "you can still say his name with a smile. It looks like your memories of him aren't all bad."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Yes, another short chapter. _

_I know I said that I would update this story a few days after the last chapter was uploaded, but at the time, I didn't receive as many reviews as I would have liked. So...chapters will come out slow(er) if review quotas aren't met. I know I shouldn't scrape around for reviews, but reviews tell me a more approximate number of how many people actually read this and some of your opinions/comments. _

_Plus, I enjoy reviews that particular show interest in the plot and in my characters. Just saying. _

_A reviewers expressed his concern about Ivan and Isabelle being OP (or over powered) and I assure you, they have their weaknesses and Ivan's will be more apparent in the future chapters. I threw in a hint in this chapter at why Ivan is not "OP" anymore. _


	7. Caretaker and Protector

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old _

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 7 - Caretaker and Protector**

_The buildings and the surrounding forest were on fire. Smoke permeated the air so much that it was hard for her to breathe. Ashes of the burnt forest floated around aimlessly in front of her._

_"Fall back!" _

_She struggled to get back up onto her feet. Her whole body felt weak and ached deeply of pain. "Help," she cried out hoarsely, trying to get anyone's attention. Tears fell from her eyes as she fought against the pain to get to her Evil Wings staff. When her fingers wrapped around the steel staff, she heard the enemy militia marching towards her. _

_Amongst the sea of dead Aegis soldiers, she got up to her feet and tried her best to run away. She limped and stumbled a few times, tripping over the bodies of her fellow comrades. _

_"Defend Henesys! Protect the townspeople!" she could hear one of the other platoon leaders shouting. _

_She stumbled through the forest, occasionally casting fire spells behind her to create some distance between her and the incoming enemy. As soon as she reached a small clearing, she looked up at the sky and saw pure black smoke rising from the direction of Henesys. _

_"No," she whispered, quickening her pace. She clenched her teeth and tried her best to run. Her clothes were torn and dirty from blood mixed in with burnt marks. Most of the blood on her clothes wasn't even hers. _

_Once she got to Henesys, she saw portions of the town were up in flames. Her red eyes widened at the sight in front of her. It was a absolutely horrific sight. The enemy troops were cutting down every Aegis soldier as if it was an easy task. Blood coated the ground and the enemy troops simply walked over the dead bodies carelessly. _

_She mustered up all of her strength and ran in. Madly, she casted multiple flame spells. A hail of meteors flew down and bombarded the enemy. Panting, she turned back around and saw fire erupting from the direction of her home. _

_"No, no..." She panicked and ran into that direction. Her heart was racing, her legs screamed for relief. Desperately looking around, she cried out for her husband's name. Her voice was raspy and hoarse. Finally, she saw him on the ground a few feet away from her. Her red irises were trembling at the shock. He was motionless on the ground, blood pooling out underneath his stomach. _

_Her entire world froze. Was this really happening? _

_Terrified, she opened her mouth and cried out his name again as she ran towards his body. Tears streamed down her face endlessly as she fell to her knees and turned him over. She cleared away his black bangs from his closed eyes and held him tightly. Her deafening cries were mixed with choked sobs. "Please wake up!" she cried in a broken voice. "Why were you even here...? Grendel told you to lead your platoon north of Henesys! Your platoon wasn't even supposed to fight!" _

_The fires burned all around her and she could hear the sound of the Aegis army fighting the enemy troops. Then, she heard the soft cries of an infant. Her breath quickened and she grew alert once more. With great care, she laid down her husband on the ground and stood up to leave. However, right before she did, she took off her burgundy colored cape and draped it over him, hiding his dead body from the world's sight. "I love you," she whispered softly, right before she ran off towards the crying sound of the infant._

* * *

><p>"Are you alright, Lia?"<p>

The black haired fire mage raised her head. "Yes, I'm alright," she quickly said to Athena.

Athena raised an eyebrow before she looked back down at the piece of parchment with the details of the quest she was giving Lia. "I hope so. This quest is very important. There can be no margin for error with this. Understood?"

Lia acknowledged it with a slight nod of her head. "Yes, I understand."

"Very good. Please make sure Alice knows this as well. Even though she's a great martyr, she must be aware that absolutely _nothing_ can go wrong in this quest."

"Isn't it a simple escorting quest?"

Athena let out a mirthless chuckle as she stood up from her seat. "Did you already forget what I've told you, Lia?"

Lia didn't answer her.

"Well...it is an escorting quest." Athena brought her hands behind her and clasped them together. Smoothly, she turned around to look out the clear arched windows. "You are to escort a princess from Mu Lung to Orbis. The king is in alliance with us and he vows to break that alliance should she be harmed. It's very important for us to maintain our alliances in Ossyria, so please do your best job."

Her red lips curved up into a little smile. Lia replied, "of course. You can trust me and Alice to finish this job easily."

"Glad to hear that you're confident about that. Just give me the proper end result."

"Of course."

Athena sighed and went back to sit down in her seat. However, she stopped when she saw that Lia didn't move. "Is there something else bothering you, Lia?"

"Huh? Oh...nothing that much in particular..."

The elf smiled. "You know...with your eyes covered up like that, it's hard for anyone to figure out how you really feel."

Lia laughed softly as she brought her slender hand up to tuck a lock of onyx black hair behind her ear. "I suppose something is bothering me a little..." Lia lowered her head and muttered, "I know I haven't been with the Aegis for very long."

"Of course. You've only been with us for 2 years."

"So then, it's natural for me to ask this question, yes?"

"And that would be...?"

"It's Alice. Even though we've been together for quite a while, I feel as if there's a barrier between us. She seems too quiet sometimes and it makes me wonder if I've done something wrong. Alice insists that it's not me, but I can't help it."

"This isn't causing her to stray from her assignment as a martyr, is it?" Athena asked curiously.

Lia hurriedly shook her head and waved her hands. "No, no. In fact, she protects me wholeheartedly each and every time. I'm always afraid that she might injure herself or worse."

Athena smiled and then chuckled softly. "Alice is a wonderful martyr. You're lucky to have her. She's very devoted to her job."

"Yes. I found her devotion to be a great quality of hers. However...it troubles me when I feel like something's troubling her." The fire mage stepped up closer to Athena. "I understand that she is an immigrant from Victoria Island. Did...she lose her parents during the invasion?"

"No. Her mother is alive and well as a scientist at Omega Sector and her father died years ago in a battle."

Lia withdrew, stepping back a bit. "Oh...then perhaps that's the reason why...-?"

"Alice has nothing more than respect for her deceased father. She hadn't shown signs of being affected by his death before."

Clenching her fists in frustration, Lia asked, "please, Miss Athena. If you know the real reason why as to Alice's behavior, I urge you to tell me. I'm her platoon leader and regardless of how a platoon leader should treat their martyrs, I want to take care of her."

Athena smiled a little sadly at Lia and she was glad that the fire mage could not see her. If Lia were to see her, she'd know right away that "Perhaps...you should direct your question to Alice. I'm sure she would answer your question much better than I ever could."

* * *

><p>"A princess?"<p>

"Yes. Athena seemed to be rather adamant about this quest in particular. She stressed the fact that we cannot allow for any mistakes."

Alice tensed up, becoming a little bit anxious when she heard Lia. "Will...Athena do anything to us if we fail this quest?" she asked nervously.

"It's best if we don't let that happen," Lia said light-heartedly, adding in a little laugh at the end. There was a long period of silence between them as they walked through Orbis towards the shipyard. Lia cleared her throat at the awkwardness. "Well," she started, "I'm sure that you've done some escorts in the past? Perhaps with your previous platoon leader?" After her talk with Athena earlier, Lia was determined to break through to Alice. For now, she assumed that something had happened to Alice during the invasion of Victoria Island a few years ago.

"N-No," Alice stuttered, feeling uncomfortable when Lia indirectly mentioned Dante. "I've only been his martyr for more or less a year. We didn't really do that much..."

"Really? I see." The fire mage sensed Alice's uneasiness. "Were you close with him?" she asked carefully, seeing as how this was a sensitive topic to Alice.

The blue haired girl let out a mirthless laugh. "You could say that," she whispered. "We didn't hate each other, we didn't like each other."

"A mutual relationship, hm? That's good. You need to be close enough to your platoon leader to be able to defend him, but you must also distance yourself enough or else it will hinder your missions."

"Eh? Hinder?" Alice looked up at Lia curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hm...I suppose it could be said that a martyr can never do his or her job properly if they are too attached to their platoon leaders. No matter what, it will prevent either of them from doing their jobs properly."

"But why?"

There was a loud foghorn blaring in the distance as they arrived at Mu Lung station. Lia stopped walking and waiting until the foghorn stopped before she spoke once more. "Your emotions will get in the way. Once they get in the way, you can never complete the mission that you are given."

Alice dropped her head slightly, looking down at the cobblestone ground. "I see," she muttered, thinking about Dante. Just exactly what kind of relationship did they have with each other? Was it because of her feelings or his feelings that they ultimately failed? Alice found herself running through the battle scenes again. Was she careless? Was he careless? Could she have stopped it? Could he have stopped it?

_"Was I...next to him? Did I really hold him?" _

The warrior held her head and tightly closed her eyes in distress. Her memories were becoming unclear. She continued to remember things that never happened and she questioned herself about it. Even she wasn't sure of what happened.

"Alice? Is everything alright?" Lia asked with concern lining her voice.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Alice blinked and feigned a smile. "Y-Yes! I'm okay!"

"Are you sure?"

Alice nodded and nervously tucked a piece of her light blue hair behind her ear. "I'm just a little tired. I didn't really sleep all that much last night!" She tried her best to reassure Lia that she had nothing wrong with her.

"Is that so? Well, the flight to Mu Lung will take around an hour. You should get some rest during that time."

"I'll try."

Lia allowed Alice to lead the way to the small boat. As she followed her, Lia thought to herself and knew that there was something wrong with her martyr, something that was large enough to be distracting her. There was no doubt about it in her mind. Knowing this, Lia knew that she had to find out what was exactly bothering Alice.

* * *

><p>Her long, purple gown barely touched the ground as her dainty feet silently made contact with each cold step on the flight of stairs. It was dark and the air smelled musty as she descended further down the spiral staircase. The only light provided was from the small lantern she held in front of her.<p>

Krylin turned her head slightly to look behind her and smirked when she saw Dante following her obediently. She took in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly, relishing the air. "It's wonderful, isn't it Dante? The life energy that's surrounding this place is amazing," she said, even though she knew Dante couldn't say anything back to her.

The cool air felt crisp and clean as they finally reached the end of the huge spiral staircase. A bright light at the end of the corridor they now stood in, beckoned Krylin to walk towards it.

As Krylin got out of the corridor, she was greeted with a serene, peaceful setting. There was a source of unknown light filtering through from the high canopy of a single large tree. The tree seemed to breathe as its lush green leaves rustled gently every now and then. Its dark green roots were thick and sprawled out all around the surroundings. The entire tree seemed to float on top of the clearest body of water anyone has ever seen. The whole place was untouched and pure.

"Eternus," Krylin called out gently, looking towards the tree. "I wish to speak with you."

A few seconds passed before a delicate fairy slowly walked out from behind the tree. She stood on top of one of the tree's roots, her pale feet barely making contact. With her light green hair and long, flowing silky gown, she seemed to blend in perfectly with the surrounding area.

"What is it that you wish to ask?" she asked softly, her voice echoing a little. She stared impassively at Krylin with her green, almost translucent eyes.

The dark cleric smirked smugly as she raised her hand up to the fairy called Eternus. "Surely, you know the location of the World Tree's seeds? I am in need of them."

Eternus slowly turned to the mighty tree and gently placed her small hand on the fresh bark. "That cannot be done for I do not know where the seed rests. Even the World Tree will not know until the seed calls out for it."

"You are the fairy that takes care of it, surely you have to know."

"Yes," the fairy lowered her minty green eyes. "I am the caretaker of the World Tree. However, that does not mean I know everything about it. The World Tree only speaks to certain individuals. Even when it does, it does not reveal everything in great detail as you wish for it to."

"Hm," Krylin pursed her lips and then smirked once more. "I am aware...that the World Tree has a protector of some sort? This protector is the sole guardian of the World Tree's seed. Perhaps I should go seek out this protector. I wonder...if times of chaos makes the World Tree reveal itself, then I wonder what will summon the protector of the World Tree?" Her mouth turned into a malicious grin as she let her purple eyes roam around the tree. Her eyes lingered upon the hundreds of lush fruits dangling from the tree.

In particular, she sought out a single fruit that was much smaller than the others and close to falling off from the tree. Krylin raised her red-black Laevateinn staff at it and casted a dark energy ball at it.

As the dark energy hurtled towards the fruit, Dante flinched slightly, unknowing to Krylin.

Eternus glanced at him and noticed this action. However, she pretended that she had seen nothing.

Just as the energy ball came close to impacting the small fruit, a clear mana barrier prevented it from being hit. The barrier at the point of impact shimmered and waved until the dark spell disappeared.

"The tree can protect itself from any attacks. It is pointless," Eternus said, unfazed by Krylin's sudden attack.

"Then isn't it pointless on your part to have a protector?"

"The protector's main job is to protect the World Tree and the seed. Nothing more," the fairy replied back simply. "Even if you manage to get your hands on the protector of the World Tree, they will never reveal the true location of the seed no matter what."

"Not even if their lives are on the line?"

"The protector's sole purpose is only to defend the tree and it's future lives. It is their duty." Eternus turned to Krylin and muttered, "the seed will not reveal itself to you. It is a pure being on its own and only the pure will be able to see it. The impure will not."

Krylin laughed in an arrogant manner. "Do you think that's of any concern to me?" she asked the fairy.

Eternus slowly looked over at Dante who was beside the dark cleric. "He will be of no use to you for harvesting the seed. That is the only reason for keeping him, is it not? That boy is impure. He has already been tainted by your hands. He will never be able to see the seed."

"What?" the purple haired cleric asked incredulously. "He can't be tainted. He has no soul to be tainted with!"

"Wrong," the delicate fairy muttered. She placed her hand on the World Tree's soft bark. "He is still alive. His body still contains remnants of his soul."

Angrily, Krylin turned over to Dante and saw his blank stare. "Impossible. He's body is only kept alive because of my magic! His soul has departed during my second attempt at transferring myself into his body!"

"I wonder when the World Tree will punish you for that taboo you have committed," Eternus whispered softly, her voice light and airy. "You should have died a long time ago, Krylin. Cheating death cannot be tolerated."

"Cheating death?" Krylin threw her head back and laughed loudly. "Yes," she muttered, regaining her composure. "I do wonder when the World Tree will "punish" me. I've been cheating death for a while now! Haven't I?" She giggled and raised her finger up to her lips. "Even now, this body I'm using is not mine."

Eternus simply stared at her with the same impassive gaze she always had.

Hating the fairy's silence, Krylin narrowed her purple eyes dangerously at her. "I will track down the seed and I will gain control of the World Tree whether you like it or not. Pure or impure, I will find a way to retrieve it."

"Will you even find it?" Eternus asked, turning back to the tree. "I wonder..."

Krylin balled up her fists by her sides in frustration. "Whether or not I use Dante to retrieve it, I will get it and the power of the World Tree will be under my control."

"It is impossible. He still has his original soul within his body, the soul that you have tainted. The seed will never come close to your reach. In fact, it may be further than ever."

Annoyed and with nothing more to say to Eternus, Krylin pursed her lips and quickly turned around to leave the room. Dante followed behind her and Eternus let her eyes rest upon him until he disappeared into the corridor with Krylin.

Quietly, the fairy turned to look up at the small fruit that Krylin had aimed to attack. It was certainly small and trembling as it seemed to want to hang onto the tree for its dear life. "Fighting for your life even when it's hopeless...how admirable...or is it just ignorance?"

* * *

><p><em>His arms were held above his head, his hands bound together by a set of heavy chains. All around him were various arrays of candles set up in a circular pattern. Underneath the candles were markings; different undecipherable runes that were all bound together by various circles and lines.<em>

_He felt Krylin's finger draw some sort of a pattern on his back. With what, he didn't know, but it stung when it came in contact with his skin. _

_"It seems that my poison has fully infected your body now," Krylin said as she finished up. "You've been blacking out more and more, haven't you?" _

_Dante remained silent. At this, Krylin walked around and stood in front of him. She cradled his face and chuckled, "smile for me Dante. It's a happy occasion!" _

_All Dante did was glare at her with a burning hatred. _

_"Oh..." Krylin cooed. "Don't look at me like that. I'm the one that saved you, remember? You should be thanking me." _

_"For what?" Dante spat out. _

_"How cute. You don't understand the situation that you're in, do you?" She lightly patted his cheek and smirked. "No one is coming back to save you. Everyone thinks you're dead." Krylin leaned up so that her lips were right against his ear. "No one...will save you. Not your friend, Cedric. Not Athena. And certainly not the girl you treasured...Alice, wasn't it?" _

_Dante tried to attack her, but she pulled away quickly and he had forgotten that his hands were bound above him. Krylin laughed teasingly as she watched him breathe heavily. "I'm sorry, did I hit a sensitive spot?" _

_"Don't say her name with your mouth," he growled out. _

_Clicking her tongue, Krylin reached up to touch his neck. "Still bound by her I see. Tamed like a meek little animal...too bad she's leaving you behind." Krylin ran her fingers through his hair. "Poor...poor Dante. Don't worry...I'll be your new master and I'll be sure to take care of you every single day." _

_Dante clenched his hands tightly into fists as she walked away from him. From behind him, he heard what sounded like a metal object sifting through rocks. His breath quickened for he couldn't turn around to see what awaited him. _

_"I'm a little sorry for this, Dante. I didn't want to mar my body, but it seems like I have no choice. It's required for the soul transfer ritual I suppose." _

_He heard the heavy boots of someone else coming up behind him. Then, he heard Krylin's voice once more. _

_"Keep it on for a good minute. The mark needs to be deep." _

_Suddenly, Dante felt the worst pain he had ever felt in his life. He cried out loudly as a hot branding iron was being pressed onto his back. The pain was searing and nearly unbearable. Dante screamed in pain as his hands fought to get out of his binds. However, moving them around only caused the chains to dig deeper into his wrists. Soon, blood was starting to drip down his arms. _

_It was the longest minute he had to endure. To him, it seemed as though the branding iron would never be lifted from his back. _

_Once he was almost unconscious, the iron was removed from his back. However, there was still a searing pain lingering on his blistering wound. He could smell the sickening scent of his own flesh burning and it nearly made him throw up. _

_Weakly, Dante dropped his head and hung from the chains, letting go of all the strength in his body. His whole back felt as if it was on fire. _

_Krylin looked at the burnt mark that nearly covered his whole back. She smirked and lifted her hand up to her lips. "Perfect...just perfect," she whispered to herself. "We will try the soul transfer ritual tomorrow." _

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_To Epic Writing Fail: It was Sean talking to Dante (the husky) not Alice. Alice wasn't even in the first chapter to begin with. .-. I don't even..._

_Please think before you review people...if you get a simple fact like the one above, wrong, then I honestly don't take anything else in your review seriously. _

_Anyways, thank you everyone else for your reviews. I didn't really have that much time to write this Winter Break, sadly. I was drawing a lot more than I was writing because of requests, Christmas gifts, commissions, etc. So I was active on DA more so than on here. Annnd I was paying more attention to my drawings rather than my writing, which may or may not explain why the last chapter was lacking. Needed to update, but didn't really have anything to update with unfortunately. Hopefully this chapter is a little better. I know the story's not really going off anywhere right now. It'll take off after the next chapter hopefully. I'm still introducing the characters and trying to explain what happened to the old characters during the time skip. _

_OH also, some of you may know that I'm like, obsessed with Lunia right now and because of this obsession, I might be writing a fanfic for it. I'm currently writing it and planning it out. It's going to be romance (again) and for those of you that have me on DeviantArt, you'll probably know which characters will be the main characters. Lulz. _

_I'll upload it once I get a decent plot going for it. :] _


	8. Alice's Resolve

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 8 - Alice's Resolve**

Alice was in awe of the great spectacle that was the Mu Lung palace. It was situated high up in the tall, lush green mountains. She and Lia had to walk up steep, narrow roads to even get to the palace. Even with the long and treacherous walk, Alice was satisfied with the view she was provided.

Turning back around away from the palace, Alice looked out and saw the countryside of Mu Lung, slightly shrouded by soft, wispy looking clouds. This view coupled with the cool, refreshing air that met her sweaty skin, Alice inhaled and then let out in a happy sigh.

"It's a beautiful view, isn't it?"

"Eh?" Startled, Alice turned around to meet Lia. "Oh, yes. It's really nice," she commented. "Have you seen it before?"

"Once or twice when I was assigned some quests here," Lia chuckled, recalling her fond memories. "Hopefully it hasn't changed that much. Come, we have to meet with the king first." Lia sensed Alice's uneasiness as they walked closer to the large red gates of the palace. Lightly, the mage rubbed the top of Alice's head and patted her shoulder. "Don't be too frightened Alice. The king is a person just like you or me." She laughed softly and said, "don't worry about a thing. I know that you'll do good on this quest."

Alice nodded, still a bit nervous about meeting someone of royalty. "Have you met the king before, Lia?"

"Hm," the mage contemplated, tapping her index finger on her chin. "I don't recall it. I don't think I ever did actually." Lia smiled and continued to walk towards the palace.

_"How could you forget a meeting with a king?" _Alice wondered to herself as she followed her platoon leader up to the front gates.

She flinched and drew back a little when she saw two fat, round pandas guarding the gate, standing on either side of it. They each held a golden spear and wore various steel plates of armor. Alice wondered if this was a joke at first, because of how whimsical they looked. In fact, Alice found herself thinking about them as almost _cute._

Lia walked up to one of them and immediately, the guard panda stiffened up and tried to look authoritative.

"State your name," he said in a loud and clear voice.

"I'm Lia Kaji and this is my martyr, Alice," Lia paused to step aside to introduce the blue haired warrior, "we're here on Aegis business. I believe the king has requested us to escort the princess?"

The pandas grunted and nodded in unison. They hobbled over to the large red gate and each pushed open one of the doors effortlessly. Alice couldn't help, but let out a soft giggle when they hobbled back over to their posts. She had hoped that neither of them noticed this, but as she followed Lia into the palace grounds, she noticed one of the guard pandas shooting her a little disgruntled glare. Quickly, Alice lowered her head, embarrassed that she had been found out, and strode in through the gates.

Once inside the palace grounds, Alice made sure she was always close behind Lia. Being in the presence of royalty and grandeur intimidated her and it didn't help at all knowing that there was no room for mistakes on this quest. However, she soon found out that staying closely behind her platoon leader was easier said than done.

The palace grounds were neatly kept. The grasses were trimmed, the bamboo shoots were clean and well organized, each and every flower was vibrant and beautiful, and in the small ponds that dotted the grounds, there were several sparkling koi fish dancing gracefully in the waters. It was certainly a peaceful setting and Alice found herself silently wishing that she could live here.

Alice widened her sapphire colored eyes in curiosity when she saw some pandas dressed in lavish silks in one of the pagodas a few feet away. Seeing this, Alice quickly came to an assumption. "Lia, are the king and the princess both...erm...pandas?"

"No, I don't believe so," Lia answered as they entered the palace building. "There are still humans that still live alongside the pandas in Mu Lung. The king and his daughter are the few that do."

"Ah, I see." Alice muttered, letting her eyes stay on a couple of short female pandas that walked past them. She assumed that they were of some nobility because of their decorative silk dresses. It did strike her odd that the pandas were walking around and talking among themselves like humans, but perhaps she would get used to it like Lia was.

Just as they reached the inner palace, they were greeted by a very elderly man. His long gray beard swayed as he opened up his arms in a grand gesture.

"Welcome to the Mu Lung kingdom!" His voice echoed through the great hallways.

"Thank you for having us, your majesty," Lia said in a gentle tone, bowing graciously as well.

Alice saw him smile to the point where his eyes disappeared and all the fine lines on his face were deepened. He seemed like a kind ruler to his people, which was much different than how Alice made him out to be with what Athena had told them.

The lavishly dressed king turned his attention towards Alice. "I'm assuming that this is your martyr?"

"Ah, yes. We will both be escorting your daughter to Orbis. I assure you that she will be very safe."

"Very good. I like to hear that," the king stated, adding in a soft chuckle at the end. He turned around to the two panda guards behind him and nodded. "Bring her out please," he said in a hushed whisper.

As the two round pandas walked into the inner courts of the palace, Alice wondered how the princess would look. It made her curious and above all, anxious to see what a princess would look like since she had never seen one before.

When the panda guards came back, Alice stood in awe with widened blue eyes when she saw the delicate little girl following behind them. Her light green silk dress flowed behind her gracefully with each dainty little step. She covered half of her face with a gold colored fan that mimicked the color of her eyes.

"This is my lovely daughter, Mytsu. I leave her in your hands, Miss Kaji."

Lia bowed at the king and answered, "please do not worry. Your daughter will be in very good hands. Alice and I will make sure to get her safely to Orbis."

Alice hurriedly nodded in agreement with Lia and bowed as well. When she came back up, she caught a glance of the princess staring at her with a plain gaze. Alice blushed a little and looked away quickly, feeling embarrassed.

"Well then, princess, we shall leave for Orbis whenever you're ready," Lia said with a kind smile.

The small girl nodded, her delicately wrapped up golden blond hair swaying slightly. "I thank you for all of this," she said in the softest voice Alice has ever heard. "I'll pack up some of possessions and get changed into more suitable clothes for our journey."

"Of course. Alice," Lia said, keeping her head still, "would you mind accompanying the princess to her chambers? She may need help with her belongings."

"Y-Yes! Sure!"

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry if it's too heavy. I can call one of my guards if you'd like."<p>

"No! It's fine!" Alice laughed, carrying three chests that were filled with clothes, trinkets, and jewelry. "My weapon is heavier than this!"

Mytsu smiled at her. "You're much stronger than you look, Alice. I wish I was as strong as you."

Blushing at the compliment, Alice quickly responded, "n-no! _I_ wish I was as pretty as you!" She blushed again when the golden blonde giggled softly, lifting her hand up to her lips.

"You're very honest, Alice. I like that. It's very cute."

Alice lowered her head and mumbled a small 'thank you' at the compliments she was getting from the princess. It did make her happy knowing that someone of such high royalty was complimenting her in such a way.

She snuck a peek at the princess as they walked side by side down the corridor. Even in plain "civilian" clothes, the princess still looked beautiful, or at least that's what Alice thought. Her pale skin almost seemed radiant and her hands looked as though they belonged to a porcelain doll. In fact, with her small stature and luscious waved hair, she did look like a doll herself.

"May I ask why you're planning to go to Orbis?" Alice asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"Mainly for protection. My father thinks that if I am closer to the Aegis, I will be provided better protection than what I am getting now."

"Wow...your father must care for you alot!"

Mytsu smiled a little and turned her eyes downwards. "Yes, perhaps a little bit too much," she muttered sadly.

Alice blinked at the princess, confused with her response. Was she sad? "Uhm, don't worry!" Alice exclaimed, trying to change the subject. "Orbis is really beautiful! And you'll like all of the fairies there! They're all very nice!"

The petite blond girl looked up at Alice with widened gold eyes in surprise with Alice's sudden exclamation. She eventually laughed softly, holding a dainty hand to her pink lips.

Seeing this, Alice felt relieved that she managed to make the princess happy.

"I'm looking forward to it," Mytsu said, smiling at Alice warmly.

* * *

><p>"A pure being, hm?"<p>

Krylin gently touched the crystal ball that was laid out in front of her. She peered into it and saw the continent of Ossyria being shrouded in a dark purple cloud. "My magic can only reveal so little," she muttered in annoyance, tapping the crystal ball lightly. The image of Ossyria quickly disappeared.

With her eagle-like eyes, Krylin looked down at Dante and Isabelle, who were knelt down before the stairs leading up to her throne.

"I will need time to reveal the true location of the World Tree's seed with my own magic. It seems that my former approach will not be of any use, according to Eternus." Krylin clenched her fists, visibly annoyed at the mere recollection of what the fairy had told her.

"Then, what shall we do?" Isabelle asked, looking up at Krylin. "Shall we go look for the seed?"

"Well," Krylin smirked and touched her blood red lips. "There's certainly no harm in trying for now, is there? Eternus has informed me multiple times that the seed will reside within a pure being. A human, perhaps?" The dark cleric gently touched her crystal ball again, summoning a dark purple cloud within it. From it, she revealed scenes of several different people. "For now my magic has only pinpointed the location of the Tree's seed to be in Ossyria."

As the crystal ball flipped through many different faces, Krylin paused upon a particular one. She chuckled darkly at the person revealed in her crystal ball.

"Clerics are indeed...pure beings aren't they? Being the casters of holy magic, they must be pure to some extent." Krylin smirked at the image of a certain orange haired cleric. "Indeed...she must be of a pure heart if she managed to take away one of my beloved subordinates." Her purple eyes narrowed when she saw Ivan walking beside Minna in the snow covered fields of El Nath. "Isabelle," she said, "how about you pay a little visit to Ivan? I'm sure he misses you. At the same time, how about you bring me back that cleric he's with?"

"Unharmed? the blond corsair asked, slowly standing up.

"Preferably, however if she fights back, don't hesitate to hurt her. As for you Dante..."

Krylin giggled when the crystal ball switched to another scene, this time in Mu Lung. "Maybe this girl could be pure as well." She looked over at Dante, who stayed knelt down in front of her. "How about it, Dante? Do you want to go see her? Your precious little, Alice?"

Dante remained unresponsive.

"I'm sure the poor girl misses you dearly. I think you should pay her a visit. Maybe even bring her back here, spend some more time with her, hm?"

The mage laughed when Dante stood up slowly, obeying her request. "Make sure you bring her back unharmed. I wish to speak with her, actually, and that tends to work best when she's at her best health."

Krylin waved her hand in the air, conjuring up a thick purple cloud. When the hazy cloud disappeared it revealed a glossy Dark Arund. "I understand that you lost your weapon from your previous fight with Cedric." She let the weapon float over to Dante. "Use that...in replacement of your weapon."

A little evil smile creeped up onto her face when she saw Dante take it in his hands.

"Then again...perhaps you could harm her a little bit." Krylin gently touched the smooth crystal ball in front of her. "I wonder what kind of expression she would bear, seeing the man she loves trying to kill her?"

* * *

><p>"Isn't it weird how the quests that are assigned to us are really...should I say...<em>vague<em>?"

Minna tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Do you think they're vague, Ivan?" she asked, turning towards the blond gunslinger.

"A little bit," Ivan muttered, sounding as if he really didn't care about the subject that Minna had brought up.

"They wouldn't be holding out information from us, would they?" the bishop said with a loud gasp. "They wouldn't! Would they?"

"Are you nervous about something, Minna?" the corsair asked rather straightforwardly.

"Huh? Nervous?"

"You act like this whenever you're nervous."

Minna promptly blushed and lowered her gaze. "A little nervous...I suppose," she whispered, calmed down a little. "Sorry, I'll try to calm down-" Ivan suddenly took hold of her wrist and brought her into the thick cover of the trees, "-I-Ivan?" Minna asked.

"Why are you nervous?" he asked her softly, pressing her gently against the cold bark of the dead trees.

The bishop's cheeks flared when she found herself being sandwiched between the tree and Ivan. "U-Uhm...no reason in particular." Minna noticed that Ivan wasn't buying her response. "Really Ivan!" she laughed, reaching up and lightly cupping his face. "It's nothing!"

Ivan stared at her with an intense gaze. "Minna..." he started softly, "we've been together for nearly four years now. Maybe that's not that long to you...but it is to me. You've been with me for more than half the time that I was alive."

"Ivan...-"

"Please don't lie to me. I want to know what's troubling you."

Feeling guilty for withholding her real thoughts from him, Minna looked away, embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry," she finally managed to whisper out. "It's just that...I'm scared. I'm scared of what will happen to you."

Ivan took her hand and brought it up to his chest. He pulled down the collar of his loose white shirt and placed her hand over his heart.

Minna felt her cold hand thaw out immediately from the warmth of his body.

"I'm alive now...aren't I?" he asked her.

"Y-Yes, but-"

"And I'll stay this way." Ivan gently wrapped his hand around hers, keeping it over his chest. Seeing that the glimmer of worry in her eyes was going away slowly, Ivan added in, "it doesn't matter that I can't heal myself anymore. I won't die on you as long as you're still alive."

Minna reached up and gently brushed her hand over his cold cheek. "Really?"

The blond pirate leaned down and gave her a soft kiss, as if answering her question. He pulled away, allowing her to breathe, then dove back in for another kiss. Her lips tasted sweet to him.

Embarrassed, but happy with his kisses, Minna wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him in closer to her. She liked his gentle kisses, no matter how many times he gave them to her. They still had a hint of shyness in them, despite the fact that they've kissed each other numerous times already.

Just as Ivan pulled away for the second time, a sudden bullet flew past both of their heads and struck the tree behind Minna.

"Pathetic...indulging yourself so deeply in your desires for her that you didn't even notice me behind you," a female voice said.

Knowing all too well the familiar voice, Ivan narrowed his green eyes and whipped around to face his adversary, Isabelle.

The female gunslinger stared down at the two. "I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't purposely missed my shot," she muttered, pointing her gun at them. "Would you have been dead? Would _both_ of you be dead?"

Ivan protectively stood in front of Minna. His hand went to the Shark Tooth Sharpshooter gun in the holster strapped around his waist. "Minna."

"Ivan...?"

"Run."

"Huh?" Minna asked in disbelief. She stepped forward and shouted, "I'm not leaving you here, Ivan!"

"I'm not letting either of you leave."

Both the priest and the corsair looked up at Isabelle, who slowly lowered herself so that she was knelt down with one knee touching the tree branch. Her green eyes looked at them impassively.

"You're not leaving this place." Isabelle smoothly fell from the tree and landed on her feet. Her high heeled brown boots made small impressions in the snowy ground as she walked up to them. "I won't let you."

* * *

><p>"So this is Orbis?"<p>

Mytsu looked around the bright shipyard with great big golden colored eyes that were filled with wonder and curiosity. As soon as the small ship docked, the princess was the first one to hop out.

"Ah, princess! Please wait!" Alice shouted, trying to follow her.

"Quite lively, isn't she?" Lia said with a soft chuckle. "Leave her be. We're in Orbis anyways. No danger here, right?"

"But still..."

Hearing the worry in Alice's voice, Lia let out a hopeless sigh. "Well, it can't be helped." She smiled at Alice. "If it will put your mind at ease. Don't worry about me. I can report back to Athena myself."

Alice nodded at the fire mage and ran off the ship. She sprinted towards Mytsu, trying her best to catch up to her. "Mytsu! Please slow down! You're still in need of our protection!"

The golden blond turned around sharply, making Alice nearly bump into her.

Alice flinched at the glare that Mytsu gave her. "U-Uhm...Mytsu...?"

"Protection? Please!" she scoffed loudly, attracting some attention from some people that passed them.

The sudden change in her personality made Alice speechless. What happened to the gentle, kind princess she had encountered earlier?

Mytsu giggled in an almost mocking manner when she saw Alice's shocked expression. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Or are you just surprised with me?"

_"Maybe...just a little," _Alice thought to herself in disbelief. It was almost as if the princess was a different person.

"Well, you can stop gawking at me," Mytsu said in an arrogant tone of voice, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Although," she let out an amused scoff, "it's a little hard not to, right?"

Before Alice could say anything to her, Mytsu was already walking away. Despite the princess' sudden change in personality, she continued to follow her closely.

Mytsu noticed this immediately, but she did her best to ignore the warrior. An annoyed expression remained on her face as she walked towards Orbis Park. "Ah jeez!" she exclaimed loudly, throwing her hands up into the air in frustration. "Don't you have anything else to do?"

"We really shouldn't be walking in too deep into the park."

"Oh shut up. If you're too scared about the star or moon pixies, then you can just leave. I'm going to explore myself."

Alice pursed her lips. She continued to follow Mytsu, despite her growing annoyance. "You can't defend yourself. You never know what will happen!" It worried Alice even more when she saw the sun starting to set beyond the horizon. "Please, let's head back! It's starting to become dark!"

"You're so annoying! I'll go back when I want to!"

Night fell upon the surrounding much more quickly than Alice would have liked for it to. She found herself trailing Mytsu into the furthest reaches of the park, where the trees grew slightly mangled and wildly and where the clean cobblestone roads grew unkept and broken.

Alice felt uneasy with the surroundings and she found herself reaching back to touch her polearm. "Princess, we really should head back..."

"You can go back! I'm staying out here! It's been so long since I've been outside the palace, I should be enjoying this-!"

Alice suddenly grew alert when she sensed the presence of another person's mana. "There's someone else out here," she muttered.

"Excuse me? Are you interrupting me?" Mytsu said incredulously.

Quickly, Alice grabbed her Eviscerator and pulled it out of its hold. She tightly gripped the blue polearm and rushed up to Mytsu. "There's someone out here. Please run away."

"What? What are you talking about? Someone else out here?"

Alice looked up at the thick tree cover above her and widened her eyes when she saw a bright yellow light flashing behind the leaves. "Get down!" she shouted.

A single arrow barely missed the top of Alice's head and struck the ground a few feet behind them. Alice raised her head slowly and looked at the treetops. "Who's there? Show yourself!" she shouted, getting back up to her feet. She readied herself for the incoming attack.

She took a step back when she saw a shadowy figure jump down from the trees and land on the ground.

"Who is it?" Mytsu asked softly, terror creeping in her voice.

"I'm not sure," Alice whispered back. "Please run away, Mytsu. It's not safe here."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Please! This isn't the time to be arguing! Just leave before you-!"

Alice let out a sharp grunt when a shining arrow flew out and struck her on her arm, unprotected by armor. Clenching her teeth, trying to silently fight off the pain, Alice shot a glare in the direction from which the arrow came from. "They might be targeting you, princess. It may be an assassin."

Biting her bottom lip until she could taste blood, the blue haired girl wrapped her gloved hand around the arrow and ripped it out of her arm. She threw it down to the ground and watched it fade away.

"You're bleeding heavily," Mytsu said, kneeling down next to Alice, showing some genuine concern.

"I'm fine, just please le-"

Alice stopped talking abruptly and took her weapon tightly in her hand. She swung the heavy polearm with one arm and deflected a stream of arrows aimed at them. Seeing as how this attacker was not going to simply go away, Alice knew that she had to stick with the pain and fight. "Show yourself coward! Or are you just going to keep attacking us from the shadows?"

Her breath quickened when she saw the shadowy figure slowly emerge from the darkness of the trees. First she saw his boot, then his legs, then his body, finally she widened her eyes in disbelief when she saw his face.

In complete shock, Alice took a step back and stared at him. Her lips trembled as she uttered one single name.

"Dante...?"

The tall archer stared at her with glassy red eyes. He didn't say anything to her.

"Dante? Dante, is that you?" Alice asked, her heart pounding away at her chest. A swell of anxiety filled her up as she hesitantly took a step towards him. "Dante, can you hear me? It's me, Alice."

Without warning, Dante rushed up to her.

Alice widened her eyes when she suddenly felt a pain in her stomach. She was in shock when it occurred to her that Dante had hit her. Letting out a gagged cough, Alice watched a few droplets of her own blood fall down from her mouth to the grass below.

Tears stung her eyes as she fell to the ground, the impact of his punch ripping through her body. Alice fought to get up, but found that it was nearly impossible to do so. Her stomach hurt terribly whenever she would exert some pressure on it in order to get up on her feet.

Not only was she fighting the pain, but she was still unnerved with how Dante didn't hesitate to attack her.

"Dante..." Alice looked up at him and saw him staring down at her with an expressionless gaze. "Dante...it's me, Alice." Her voice trembled from the threat of tears. "It's me, Alice," she repeated, tears streaming down her face. "You don't remember me?"

The black haired archer raised his bow and aimed it at her. A single golden arrow materialized on it and Dante pulled the strings back, ready to shoot the arrow straight through her head. Alice stared in disbelief at him. He wasn't really going to kill her, was he?

"No...Dante! I'm...I'm not the enemy!" she screamed out just as Dante was about to release the arrow in his hand.

"Soul Driver!"

Alice stared at the dozens of shining swords that rained down on Dante. He easily dodged them by jumping out of the way and they impaled the ground where he once stood.

"What?" she whispered in surprise. Alice turned her head and saw Mytsu with both of her hands engulfed in a bright white aura. "Princess?"

"Don't just lie down there! He was going to kill you!" the blonde shouted angrily. "Jeez, I can't believe this. I'm protecting the person that's supposedly my "bodyguard."" Mytsu grew angrier when she saw that Alice was doing nothing, but staring at her. "Hurry up and fight! Aren't you supposed to be protecting me?"

Knowing that what she said was right, Alice gathered up all of her strength and stood back up on her feet. Her heart ached when she saw Dante staring at her with that glassy gaze. It was as if he did not recognize her at all. He treated her as if she was a stranger...no...as an _enemy_. Was he under Krylin's complete control now?

"It seems like you knew him," Mytsu commented. "But that's no reason to not attack him. He attacked you, so are you just going to sit there as he keeps hurting you?"

Alice shook her head slowly. She knew that what Mytsu was saying was true. She knew that she had to attack Dante. And she knew that if she didn't, she would most likely be killed. She had to come to a decision and fast.

* * *

><p><em>"Alice..." <em>

_The blue haired girl gasped softly when she felt the arms around her tighten. Her heart pounded painfully within her. "Dante..." she whispered, raising her hands and gently touching the arms that had captured her. "What should I do? I'm not sure. I don't know." _

_"You need to save me." _

_"Eh?" _

_"I'm in trouble. Save me." _

_Alice felt his hands go up to her face. Gently, she closed her eyes at the warmth. "You're in trouble?" she asked him, to which he adamantly replied. _

_"Yes, please. I want to see you again. You'll do whatever it takes to save me, won't you?" _

_"Even...dying?" _

_"Yes." _

_Blinking her eyes, Alice found a renewed light within her. In a fluid motion, she raised her hands up to his and gently pulled them away from her. "I see," she answered with a bright smile. _

_"Alice...?" _

_"The Dante that I know will never say those things." Alice didn't turn around to face him. "The Dante I know is an arrogant asshole and he would never ask for my help to that degree." She giggled at what she had said. _

_"You never know!" _

_"I do know...that you're not Dante. Besides...he would never ask me to sacrifice myself for him. He's just not that person." Alice looked down at the yellow daisies at her feet. She smiled fondly at them, recalling all of the memories she had shared with Dante, all of them crystal clear. "That's why I love him. Because he's that stupid bastard I hate."_

* * *

><p>Her blue eyes narrowed at him and she stood up straighter. Alice let some of her strength show through her gaze. She still wasn't sure if the man that stood in front of her was Dante or not, but she wasn't going to let that stop her.<p>

Letting go of the last of her sorrowful, grieving feelings she had over his death, Alice tightly gripped her polearm. She knew that she had spent enough tears and enough time grieving over him. Now wasn't the time to do any of that.

Alice bent her knees slightly and then ran out. With a loud cry, she charged at him, ready to strike without any sort of hesitance.

_"I won't cry over you Dante. So watch me! Watch me because I WILL save you!" _

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Thank you for all of the reviews! _

_Thank you especially to ButterflyMeadow, ThanhnuFia, and Mapleized! You guys reviews nearly all of my chapters and I love what you have to say for them! Anyone who's looking for some good stories to read, check out some of their stuff! ButterflyMeadow and ThanhnuFia are some very talented young writers! _

_Thank you to the others that have reviewed the previous chapter as well! _

_I'm sure that some of you know already, but I HAVE uploaded my Lunia fanfic in the Lunia section! It's titled 'Rough Seas' and I'd very much like it if you guys could go read it if you haven't already. (Perhaps leave a review or two on it while you're there!) It's the first story in the section and I'm hoping to do some justice for it! _

_Please leave a review, comment, concern, question, etc..._

_P.S. I'm liking how so many of you tell me that you love Lia! _


	9. Hero's Will

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 9 - Hero's Will**

"Magic Guard!"

Minna felt the searing flames from Isabelle's gun rush past her. The heat prickled the skin on her face. The flames immediately stopped when she heard a series of gunshots. Taking down her magic guard shield, Minna saw Ivan aggressively firing round after round at the female pirate.

It was almost as if it were a barrage of bullets and with Ivan not letting up his attacks, Isabelle had no time to attack back.

She moved fluidly, dodging each bullet as if it was a cakewalk. After an acrobatic flip in the air, Isabelle landed on her feet, a few yards away from Ivan. She seemed unfazed by the fiery offense; she didn't even look tired.

"You can't fight us both at the same time," Ivan told her.

"Am I not doing that right now?" Isabelle asked quite plainly. "I hope you haven't forgotten about my regeneration. Even if you two manage to hit me, I can recover myself no matter what. However...-" she raised both of her guns at Ivan, "the same can't be said for you anymore."

"Ivan-!" Minna was cut off by the sudden sound of gunshots. She quickly stopped in her tracks and held her breath when she saw Isabelle firing relentlessly at the male pirate.

Even though Ivan seemed as though he was dodging the attacks without much difficulty, Minna wanted nothing more than to help defend him. Seeing as how she couldn't find an opening to help with his defense, she decided to go for the offense.

Her pale hands glowed in a soft yellow light as she brought them up into a shooting position. The orange jewel of her Thorns staff flashed dimly with the same soft light. The light quickly took on the form of a bow and arrow.

Minna narrowed her wine red eyes at the blonde female pirate. "Angel's Ray!" she yelled, letting go of the arrow.

With great speed and accuracy, the sharp, thin arrow struck Isabelle in the chest, sending a flurry of white and yellow feathers flying from the impact. The corsair cried out in pain, falling to her knees.

Briefly, Minna had forgotten about Isabelle's regenerative abilities, so she stood there staring at the blonde pirate as she fell to the snow covered ground. It wasn't until Ivan grabbed her hand, did she snap back to reality.

"Minna, we need to hide."

She looked at him as if he was insane. "What? Hide? We need to run!"

Ivan shook his head and looked back over at Isabelle, who ripped the glowing arrow out of her chest. "Trust me," he whispered hastily. He wrapped an arm around the cleric's small waist and pulled out a small grenade. Striking the fuse against the bark of a petrified tree, Ivan quickly threw it over at Isabelle and fled with Minna.

Minna felt weightless as Ivan carried her. Swiftly, he jumped up into the trees and made his way through them without any delay. As soon as he made contact with one of the more tall trees, Minna heard a loud explosion behind them.

"Why aren't we running?" she asked Ivan urgently as he hid behind one of the trees.

He let out a soft sigh as he let the cleric down on her feet. Ivan tightly held his gun and clicked it, clearing away some of the residue gunpowder inside of it. "There's no point in running. She'll only catch us. And it doesn't seem like she's planning to let us escape."

"Then-"

"We can only hide for now," Ivan faced her, "we need to come up with a plan and fast."

Minna looked down in thought. "I might..." she whispered, tightly gripping her Thorns staff, "I might be able to come up with something. But I need your help with it, Ivan. Please buy me enough time."

* * *

><p>Alice's breathing was ragged and labored. Her sapphire blue eyes narrowed at Dante, who didn't seem at all affected by their fight. Not only was she trying to attack him, but she was also trying to defend herself at the same time.<p>

_"I can't get near him," _she thought to herself, gripping her polearm.

Alice charged towards Dante, only to be faced with a series of arrows again. She spun her Eviscerator, deflecting some of them.

"Soul Driver!" Mytsu cried out, raising her hand and bringing it down sharply. The light swords fell down towards Dante. He looked up, noticing them, then dodged with an agile flip.

Seeing on opening of vulnerability, Alice rushed towards Dante just as he landed back down on the ground. Using all of her might, she swung her polearm at him.

Dante quickly blocked her attack with his bow. The two metals from the weapons clashed, creating a harsh screeching sound. At this moment, Alice found herself looking into Dante's eyes. She searched for any signs of humanity or anything of his former self, but there was none. Alice felt a slight ache inside of her chest, realizing that there was no possible way that he was going to recognize her.

She pressed harder, driving him back. Just when she exerted more force, she fell forward, a bunch of thin straw pieces floating down on her.

_"What...?" _she thought, stunned by what had just happened.

"Hey! Watch out behind you!" Mytsu called out.

Alice tried to catch her balance and spun on her heel. However, she wasn't quick enough, nor was she ready to block Dante.

He swung his bow and hit her on the chest, sending her flying back a few feet. The force of the impact as well as her rough landing on the ground, sent her body into a numbed state. Fatigue and pain wracked her body, but she did her best to ignore it. She couldn't give up now. Not when she was so close to rescuing him.

Panting heavily, she brought her hand up and wiped away the blood from a fresh cut on her cheek.

_"So, he used a puppet. I can't fall for that again."_

A sense of confusion flashed in her sapphire blue eyes when she saw Dante standing just a few feet away from Mytsu, but he paid no attention to her. In fact, he had not paid her any attention for the whole fight unless it was to dodge her attacks. So, she wasn't the target?

"Dante..." Alice whispered. "Dante! Why are you here?" she asked in a louder voice.

He didn't say a word, remaining silent as before.

"At least answer me!"

Alice didn't understand any of it. Why wasn't Dante speaking to her? Was it because he's dead? Is there no soul attached to his body? ...Or did Krylin already plant her soul inside of him?

Fearing the latter, she felt her heart rate speeding up in anxiety. Not only was she worried about losing this moment, but she was worried about what would happen to Dante even if she were to win this fight.

As Alice readied herself to attack, she widened her eyes with shock about what happened next.

"Why I am here?" Dante repeated. His expressionless face soon changed into that of an evil smirk. "Shouldn't you know the answer to that Alice?"

Her body froze upon hearing his voice. "You're..." she managed to stammer out.

The male archer shot off a soul arrow before she could finish her sentence.

Caught off guard, Alice barely blocked the attack, but she was hardly ready for the next one. Before she could defend herself or dodge, Dante ran up to her and wrapped his hand around her neck. He slammed her down on the ground, with such a force that it made Alice gag.

She dropped her polearm to the side and brought up both of her hands to grab at his arm. She tried vainly to pull him away before he choked her. Alice coughed and whimpered as his grip tightened slowly. Her vision began to fade from the loss of oxygen.

"Alice!" Mytsu cried out, starting to run up to them.

"Stay back!"

The princess stopped in her tracks at Alice's words.

It was getting harder for her to think straight, but Alice tried her best to yell out, "please run away!"

Mytsu shouted something back to her, but Alice couldn't make it out. Her head was beginning to spin and her thoughts were starting to drift. She turned her head back up to look at Dante. Alice looked into his eyes, still trying to find the light of life in them.

_'Ah...maybe...a little bit. But, something's bothering me...' _

"Where...?" Alice loosened her grip around Dante's arm, loosing her focus as well. "Where's Dante...?" she asked weakly to the man above her.

"Are you stupid? I'm-!" He stopped and then suddenly rolled off to the side, dodging a single silver arrow.

Dante kept himself down on his knee and looked up to see who had shot him. He felt a sharp pain on his cheek and growled in annoyance when he felt blood rolling down from the scratch. The arrow had barely missed him. "Who are you?" he asked.

Alice, regaining her senses, slowly sat up and widened her eyes. "M-Miss Athena?"

The female elf slowly walked out from the soft shade of the trees and kept a steady gaze on Dante. In her hands was a clear bow with intricate gold designs swirling around on it. It reflected the moonlight magnificently as she raised it up.

"I think that's a question that I should be asking you."

Dante let out a mocking scoff. "What? Do you think that I'm that bitch, Krylin?"

"Are you in relation to her?" Athena glared at him when she saw a cocky smirk on his face. "So...what Grendel has feared is here..."

Alice looked at the elf, confused with what she was hearing.

"Grendel? That old man is still alive? Ah well...I guess I've only been gone for a while. How long has it been? 15 years? 20 years?" Dante chuckled. He then grabbed his own bow and raised up to Athena. "Seeing as how you're freely addressing him, I'm guessing that you're a part of the Aegis."

Athena didn't answer him. Instead she drew back her bow and a silver arrow materialized in her hands. "Alice..."

"Miss Athena...?" the spearman asked hesitantly. "What's happening? Is that...not Dante nor Krylin?"

"Pick up your weapon, Alice," the silver haired elf said calmly, never facing her. "And your highness?" she asked, referring to Mytsu.

The blonde girl perked up at Athena's authoritative voice. "Y-Yes?"

"Please go to Orbis. Alert Grendel."

Without offering up any sort of argument, Mytsu turned quickly on her heels and ran towards Orbis. Alice looked back at her, wondering if she would be safe. However, Athena quickly made sure she concentrated on the upcoming fight at hand.

"Alice, this is something that I feel you need to face."

"Huh?"

"Whatever happens here right now, are you ready to face it?"

"Whatever happens...?" Alice turned to look at Dante. She couldn't help, but be a little bit more frightened of him considering that he nearly killed her and from what she had heard from Athena's conversation. "Miss Athena..."

"The one you are facing is not Dante, it is not Krylin."

"But-"

"Dante is still in there somewhere. Even I can feel it."

Alice felt a sort of relief wash through her body at what Athena had said. With the tiniest flicker of hope inside of her, Alice took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Her gaze hardened and the grip on her polearm tightened. "I see," she stated. "What do you want me to do Miss Athena?"

"Create an opening for me."

Confused by the brief directions, Alice wanted to ask for more details, but time had run out.

Dante ran towards them, ready to begin his attacks.

Instinctively, Alice stepped up in front of Athena and blocked the attack. The steel from their weapons screeched as they made contact. "Who are you?" she asked him, holding off his attack.

"Your precious little 'Dante,'" he answered with a chuckle.

"Liar!" Alice broke off of him and stepped back. She aimed a sharp jab of her polearm at him, briefly sending off a wave of mana shaped like a dragon.

He laughed as he jumped back to dodge her. "What? You don't believe me?"

"The hell I do!" The blue haired girl moved to strike again, but she stopped when she saw dozens of arrows flying past her and towards Dante. She turned around to see Athena holding her bow tightly in her hands.

A series of beautiful silver wings unfolded from a central portal of swirling energy that surrounded the bowmaster's weapon. Athena pulled the string on her bow back and took aim. However, before she could shoot off an arrow, Dante disappeared before them. In a blink of an eye, Alice saw him right behind Athena, holding his bow up, ready to strike down on the elf.

"Miss Athena! Watch out!"

Athena narrowed her icy blue eyes and whipped around. She easily blocked his attack with her own bow. Effortlessly, she pushed him away and quickly shot off three arrows at him. All three struck him directly in his chest and stomach. He fell back, but before he could touch the ground he bursted into a flurry of straw pieces.

"A scarecrow, huh?" Athena muttered. "Be careful Alice. He's still out here somewhere."

Alice quietly looked around the area. All the while, she tried to calm her swiftly beating heart. She was still anxious over this fight and about Dante, a man that she had thought to be dead for three years.

"Alice! Watch out!" the elf suddenly cried out.

"Eh?" Before Alice could realize what was about to happen to her, she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist. She turned around and saw Dante.

"Let go of her! Your fight is with me now!" Athena shouted.

"Is it?"

Alice let out an involuntary whimper when his hold around her tightened. It was starting to hurt. She felt him lean down and whisper in her ear.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, chuckling maliciously.

The blue haired warrior glared at him from the corner of her eye. She struggled to get away, but he held on.

"Did you think that it was Dante that was calling out to you in your dreams, Alice?"

"Huh?"

"I thought that you were going to be an easy target, but that doesn't matter anymore. I have you now."

Alice squeezed her eyes shut and felt chills run up and down her spine when she felt him lean down and lick her neck. "Target...?"

"I need a willing soul." He applied his teeth to her skin and bit down.

Pain tore through her body as he bit down harder. Alice cried and tried to hit him away. "Stop! Dante! It hurts! Stop it!"

"Dante...stop."

Alice opened up her eyes at the sound of Athena's clear voice. She felt him grow still against her. The pain in her neck stopped and the hold around her waist loosened. "Miss Athena?" Alice asked, slowly turning around.

Her crystal blue eyes widened in surprise. Dante's whole body fell into a calm state and slowly, she saw his red eyes closing. From behind him, Athena held her hand against his back. A pure, shining yellow aura surrounded her and soon it swallowed up Dante as well.

"Miss Athena...? What's happening?"

The elf didn't answer her. She kept her frosty blue eyes on Dante and finally she muttered, "Hero's Will."

Alice saw a bright orange maple emblem form on top of Dante's chest. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. As soon as it disappeared, the aura around both Dante and Athena faded.

The black haired archer fell forward, but Alice instinctively held out her arms to catch him.

"Dante...!"

He was heavy as he fell into her open arms, but Alice didn't mind at all. She nervously looked at Athena, wondering if she had killed him. However, when she saw the elf's delicate face form a small smile, she knew that it was otherwise.

"Dante?" Alice cautiously asked, holding him tightly. She tangled her fingers in his long black hair nervously. Her heart hammered away as she awaited for some type of a response from him.

Finally...

"...Al...ice..."

Her eyes closed at the sound of her name. She felt tears form at the corner of her eyes and run down her cheeks. "It really is you," she whispered, her voice cracking from her tears. "It...really is..."

Suddenly, she felt her body grow weak. She and Dante both fell to the ground with a thump.

"Alice! Alice! What's wrong?" she heard Athena cry out.

Her eyelids drooped as she looked over at Dante, who was lying down beside her. She faintly heard Athena's panicked voice, but she kept her eyes on Dante. Slowly, she let her eyes close and let her mind be consumed.

* * *

><p>It was a beautiful oasis. Alice felt the cool water on her toes as she kicked her legs back and forth languidly. Her eyes wandered the small area with great curiousity.<p>

"Where am I?" she asked softly.

"Do you want to save him?" a voice asked from behind her.

Alice slowly turned around and saw a small girl. Her soft green hair flowed down to her small waist. The white robe she wore seemed to glow with the surroundings.

"Save him?" Alice asked.

The delicate fairy before her lifted her hand and pointed up to the large tree. Alice followed it and saw a single fruit dangling just on its last stem.

"How important is he to you? Is he your most important person? Is he worth saving?"

Alice kept her eyes on the small fruit and kept silent. A small wind blew through the area and she saw the fruit nearly falling off from the tree.

Gently, she pulled herself up from the tree's large roots and stood on top of them. Something drew her to the small fruit as she walked on the roots to get directly under it. Her blue eyes stared at the glowing fruit for a long time. It seemed entrancing.

"I...I want to save him."

The petite fairy kept a steady, impassive gaze on the warrior. "I see."

Alice turned towards the fairy and curiously asked, "who are you? Can you save him?"

"I am nothing more than the Caretaker," she simply answered, placing her pale hand on the bark of the enormous tree. "And you are..."

* * *

><p>"Is she finally coming to?"<p>

"Alice!"

Her vision was blurry upon opening her eyes. Alice squinted and blinked several times, trying to clear up her vision. Finally when she regained her full vision, she saw Xin looking down at her. He smiled at her consciousness and looked up.

"She's awake!" he excitedly said. Xin looked back down at her and asked, "do you feel okay, Alice?"

"Uh..." Alice slowly sat up in the bed and looked around.

She assumed that she was in the infirmary. Only bleak white walls surrounded her along with various drawers and shelves. Athena, Xin, and Grendel were the only ones in the room with her. There was no sign of an oasis, a tree, or the mysterious fairy Alice had met.

"Was I...sleeping?" she asked.

"It seems as though you blacked out for quite a while," Grendel informed her. "But don't worry. It was only for a few hours," he reassured her with a warm, wrinkled smile.

"What about Myts- I mean- the princess? Is she safe?"

"Lia and the princess left just a few minutes ago. It was getting late and I've asked Lia to escort her to the safe house," Athena answered. She saw Alice hesitating to ask another question, but she answered it for her before she could even ask. "Don't worry, Alice. Dante is in the room just down the hall. He's back for the time being."

"Ah, is that so?" Alice said nervously, bunching up the bed sheets in her hands. "Is he...okay?"

"He has yet to wake up."

Alice let out a soft, befallen 'oh.' Worry filled up inside of her. She bit her bottom lip, but released it when she felt Xin place his hand over hers.

"Don't worry, Alice," he said with an assuring smile.

"Well, it's good that you're alright, Alice." Athena said, trying to change the subject. She smiled gently and held her hands behind her back. "I called Grendel to check on you because I was afraid of his soul invading your body. It's good that it hasn't."

"His soul?"

Athena turned her head slightly to look at Grendel, to which he simply bowed his head slightly. "While I did sense Dante's soul within his body, I also sensed another soul as well."

"Krylin's?" Xin asked.

"No," Grendel said, shaking his head. "I'm afraid that the soul we've detected is of a far worse enemy. I'm sure you are both aware that this war has been fought for several decades now. Krylin is only as old as Nackt. Although formidable, I'm afraid that she is not our greatest threat now."

"Who was the Aegis fighting before her then?" Alice asked.

"Could it be the Black Mage?" Xin piped up.

Grendel bowed his head and nodded. "His name was Xeros. Most everyone else knows him as the Black Mage. He nearly conquered all of Victoria Island almost 22 years ago. Henesys nearly burned down because of him, but...something strange happened during that battle. The attacks suddenly stopped and his troops fell back. I never saw him after that battle and suddenly, the world was rid of him."

"How did he get his soul inside Dante then?"

"Grendel and I believe that is Krylin's mistake," Athena answered. "When we brought Dante back, Grendel took a look at his back and saw that Krylin had already branded him for the soul transfer ritual. There is no doubt in my mind that she failed multiple times since she couldn't her soul inside of him. I'm assuming that Xeros' soul attached itself to Dante's during one of the rituals." She looked down dejectedly. "It'll mean another war for us if Xeros is to awake again."

"But, Miss Athena? Didn't you take his soul out of Dante earlier? I saw it!"

Alice felt a little befallen when Athena shook her head slowly.

"Yes, I did free Dante's soul from Xeros' with the purifying spell, Hero's Will, but his soul is free to wander now. There's no telling where and when he will find a suitable host."

The thought of a greater terror than Krylin possibly being resurrected brought chills up and down Alice's spine. Wasn't the Aegis struggling enough with Krylin alone?

Alice gently brought her hand up to her neck, remembering on how he had bitten her. There was hard bandage wrapped around her thin neck and Alice assumed that he had bitten her viciously.

"You should rest for now, Alice. Your body was in pretty bad shape even though you had all your armor on," Xin said softly and with great care in his voice. His deep blue eyes shimmered worriedly as he took her hand. "I'm surprised that you managed to hold out for that long."

The blue haired girl smiled half-heartedly at him. She knew that she could have defended and attacked better, but she held back. Even though she was aware that it wasn't Dante, she remembered how hard it was for her to be attacking him.

"Miss Athena...?"

"Yes, Alice?"

"Can I go see Dante? I just want to see him." She turned to Xin and quickly added in, "I'll rest a lot after I see him. I promise."

"He might still be unconscious, but you can. He's in the room two doors down. I believe Cedric is in there visiting as well."

* * *

><p>It had to be perfect. The timing, the skill...everything.<p>

Minna inhaled, then exhaled softly. She held her Cromi staff in front of her and closed her eyes. In the background noise, she could hear Ivan and Isabelle's gunshots echoing through the forest. She had to drown them out.

_"Don't worry about Ivan. He'll be fine. He'll be fine." _she reassured herself.

The bishop centered herself and focused completely on the spell she was about to cast. Genesis, a truly powerful spell indeed, but it could possibly drain her completely if she did not cast it right. Minna knew that there was a high risk in this for her since she had virtually no location and time to practice this spell, but she cast those thoughts aside.

The benefits that would follow if she were to succeed, far outweighed the risks of failure.

"O' Almighty Gods, grant me the power to cleanse the unpure..." Minna let go of her staff and the shiny Cromi floated in front of her.

Ivan glanced at Minna as he dodged a hail of bullets from Isabelle. He saw a glowing aura form around Minna. Her hair and robes floated gently, the tips softly waving. She was starting to cast the spell and it seemed as though Isabelle took notice of it.

He quickly rushed up to the corsair and pushed the gun into her shoulder. He shot off a few rounds and backed away.

Isabelle staggered on her feet, but quickly recovered. Ivan rushed forth again and shot off a few rounds. There was no way he could let Isabelle get near or attack Minna before the spell was cast.

The female pirate easily dodged the bullets Ivan shot off, but she failed to ready herself for his next attack.

Ivan jumped and gave a swift kick to her stomach. Isabelle fell back into the snow with a soft grunt. She got up to her knees and glared at him. Saying nothing, she got on her feet and ran towards him.

The two engaged in hand-to-hand combat, throwing punches and kicks to each other. Despite the fact that they were corsairs, neither of them lacked the ability to fight with their bare hands.

Ivan pushed aside one of her punches and then looked up when he saw the faintest glimmer of Minna's spell starting to work. He knew that it was a mistake to let himself get distracted for a split second when he felt a hard blow on his face.

Isabelle gave a sharp spinning kick to him and watched as he fell on the snow. "You've completely let your human side take over, haven't you? You've lost that instinct to fight and to kill."

His cheek throbbed, but Ivan ignored it as he pushed himself up with his hands. Bits of snow clung to his blond bangs and slid down his face. "It doesn't matter," he whispered, wiping his face with the back of his hand. "You're still not any better than me."

"Have you lost your logical way of thinking as well? _You _are the prototype, I am the real thing, I am perfection."

Ivan slowly got up on his feet and muttered, "is that how you feel?" He could see the light from Minna's spell glowing brighter and brighter. "Is that how you want to think of yourself?"

"Think? I know I am."

"How do you know?"

Isabelle's expression hardened as she rushed towards him.

The blond easily sidestepped and grabbed hold of her arm He twisted it and pinned it against her back. Isabelle grunted at the broken bones.

"Didn't you just get angry with me? Where was your logic then?" he whispered into her ear. Ivan shoved her onto the ground and quickly shot off three bullets directly into her spine, paralyzing her.

Isabelle clenched her fists and grit her teeth at what Ivan had said to her. She laid there on the ground, her body slowly regenerating. However, she saw Ivan fleeing her side and the ever growing light from the sky.

"Genesis!" she heard from the bishop's mouth.

* * *

><p>It was a blinding display of light. A few feathers floated around Minna as the spell came to a stop. They disappeared before they hit the ground.<p>

As the spell's light receded, Ivan saw Minna swaying slightly. He quickly got up behind her and caught her in his arms before she could fall.

"Ah...sorry Ivan," Minna said tiredly with a soft smile. "I guess I shouldn't have used that spell so freely. I feel so drained." She laughed lightly, looking up at him.

He softly shushed her, placing his finger over his soft lips. "It's fine."

Minna giggled as he hooked his arm underneath her legs, carrying her bridal-style. "Is she gone?"

"Probably not, but not even her regeneration can heal her this fast. We can use this time to escape back to El Nath."

"Mm...then let's...go...do that," Minna mumbled, resting her head against his chest.

Ivan heard her soft breathing and figured that the spell must have exhausted her more than she had hoped for. Gently, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I'm glad you're safe."

* * *

><p>Alice could hear her heart beating wildly inside of her as she walked up to the door to Dante's hospital room. It was so loud to her that she was worried Xin might hear it as well.<p>

Her small hand raised up and knocked on the door softly.

"C-Cedric? Are you in there?"

A few seconds passed before the door opened up. Immediately, she could hear Cedric laughing as he kept his head turned away from her.

"Hang on, Dante. I'll be right back."

The bandit stepped out of the room and gently closed the door behind him.

"Cedric? Is Dante up?" Alice asked a little anxiously.

"He is."

Alice looked at him confused when he saw Cedric's smile fading. "Wh-What's wrong?"

"There's something wrong with him," Cedric whispered.

"What do you mean?"

The warrior felt more nervous with the ominous atmosphere hanging around them. She tightly clasped her hands together and asked again, "Cedric, what's wrong with him?"

"I'm not quite sure myself, but...maybe you will help."

"Huh?"

Cedric opened up the door again and stepped in. "Dante!" he cheerfully exclaimed, quickly changing his expression. "You have visitors!"

Alice held a loose fist over her chest as she followed Cedric into the room. She suddenly felt shy and was unsure about what to say to him, but it was already too late to back out now.

As soon as she saw him sitting up in the bed, she smiled nervously and asked, "Dante?"

Her heart started to sink when he didn't respond to her. Instead, all he did was look at her curiously.

"Dante?" Alice asked again, slowly approaching him.

He looked a little scared of her, maybe a little bit shy. It confused her greatly. Finally, Dante turned to Cedric and asked, "who is she?"

Alice felt a sharp pain in her chest at the sound of those words.

"Dante, it's Alice. Don't you remember?" she asked, her voice shaking. "We - I was your martyr. We went on lots of quests together!"

The black haired man stared back at her with great confusion. Finally, his gaze hardened and he shook his head. "Forget it. I don't need a martyr and I never will have one. And I certainly don't know who you are. I've never met anyone named Alice."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_More stuff will be explained in the next chapters. More stuff about Xeros, the life before Krylin, the World Tree, Dante, etc. I'm expecting the main plot with the World Tree and such to really take off at around Chapter 13-17. These first few chapters are really only to introduce the new characters and to bring you guys into the main plot slowly. And no, getting Dante back is not the main plot for this story, which is why I kept it short. I don't want you to be focused on that. _

_I should explain some things about Hero's Will in this story. As you know, this skill is in Maple and it's to cure all abnormal conditions affecting your character (and party members?). In this case, Athena used it to cure Dante from Krylin's curse. However, Hero's Will in this story can only be used once by one person. This means that Athena cannot use this skill again and I will say in the future chapters that Hero's Will takes a long time to "hone" and "learn." It's a rare skill that only very elite warriors, who have a pure soul and mind, can use. _

_I apologize in advance if some facts are off. I've quit Maple for a few months now, so I'm looking up some information on HiddenStreet and the site doesn't update that quickly, plus, some of the information is off so some things may not be accurate. _


	10. Remember

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit__  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 10 - Remember**

Her mind went numb and her lips dried up as she fought to form words that were never supposed to be there.

"Dante," Alice said in a trembling voice. Her feet shuffled and stepped forward towards his bed. Something inside of her ached painfully when she saw Dante leaning away from her slightly, as if he was scared of her. "This...this isn't funny, Dante!" she shouted in desperation, slamming her hands down on the edge of his bed. "If this is all a joke-!"

"Really..." Dante looked at her with an annoyed glare. "I really don't know who you are. So shut it." he said coldly.

"Hey!" Xin exclaimed, stepping into the conversation. "You don't have to be so rude to her about it!"

"And who are you? Her boyfriend?"

"Now, now, Dante," Cedric said with a little laugh, attempting to calm down the situation, even though he knew that it was impossible. He turned towards Xin and Alice and whispered under his breath. "We'll talk outside."

* * *

><p>"What's wrong with him?" Alice asked as soon as they left Dante's room.<p>

"I'm not sure myself. A cleric hasn't come in yet to examine him since he woke up." Cedric cupped his chin in thought and muttered, "however...I may have a little guess." He stopped walking and looked at Alice, then at Xin. "Since he says he doesn't remember either of you...could it be amnesia?"

"Amnesia?" Xin questioned in an almost incredulous manner. "From what I saw, he didn't have any head injuries. There's no way!"

"Well...amnesia could be brought on from severe stress or shock. Remember? Dante's been with Krylin for the past few years. There's no telling what she put him through while he was imprisoned."

A little bit of guilt rose up inside of Alice. She clutched at the light blue fabric of her hospital robes and suddenly felt terrible for shouting at Dante in the room earlier. If what Cedric was saying was indeed true, none of this was Dante's fault.

_"Only mine..."_

Cedric sighed and scratched his head, messing up his already unruly green hair. "In any case, the cleric will have to examine him first to see if anything I said was true. It may not be amnesia."

"Then what else could it be?"

The bandit shrugged a little. "His soul had obviously been played around a lot by Krylin. Although it's highly unlikely from what I could tell, the soul inside of his body may not be his." He saw the worried look on Alice's face and quickly he exclaimed in a cheerful voice, "ah! But nothing to worry about, Alice! Dante recognized me as soon as he woke up so, it may just be amnesia!"

"But...he still doesn't remember us..." Alice whispered, feeling hopeless about this whole situation.

Cedric smiled fondly at Alice and said gently, "you should come back again tomorrow, Alice. He might be more hospitable then."

"Ah...I-I see."

Xin noticed Alice trembling slightly, so he took her by the shoulders gently and said, "maybe you should go lie down some more. You shouldn't exert yourself too much."

"Yeah..." Alice looked up at Cedric and smiled. "I'll try to come back tomorrow to visit him then." Quickly, she excused herself and strode down the hall with Xin following quickly at her heels.

He wanted to say something to her, but he waited until they got to her room.

"I don't know what's worse," Alice whispered in a soft voice once she entered her hospital room.

"Alice..." Xin quietly muttered, closing the door silently behind him. Once he heard the soft click, he carefully walked up to Alice, who kept her back turned towards him.

"I know I'm supposed to be happy! I mean, we finally have Dante back, but-!" Alice hiccuped from the onset of tears. She held her hand in front of her mouth and cried out, "it's cruel! It's mean! It's the same as having him gone! What's the point if he can't remember anything?"

The crusader walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her small body. "It couldn't be helped," he muttered, leaning his cheek onto her head. "Let's not jump to conclusions when a cleric hasn't even examined him yet. Okay?" Xin said in a gentle voice, carefully stroking the top of her smooth cyan hair.

Alice hiccuped again, but willfully nodded at his words. She brought her hand up to quickly wipe away at the moist eyes. "I understand..."

Xin smiled against her hair. "Good," he whispered. What followed after that was a long period of silence between them.

After her hiccups had quelled, Alice herself to be in an awkward situation. "X-Xin? You can let go now..." she nervously said.

"You know..." The black haired man chuckled softly, still holding her against him. "I'm jealous."

"Eh? What are you talking about?"

Alice felt him let go of her slightly and move to take her hands in his. He gently massaged her hands and whispered into her ear, "even after three years of being supposedly dead, Dante still has someone that thinks about him. He doesn't know how to be grateful."

Feeling uncomfortable with what Xin was telling her, the blue haired girl tried to push him away. "Grateful? Dante doesn't even remember me, so...so I can't really blame him for-"

"You shouldn't try to excuse him for everything."

"Huh?"

"It wasn't your fault that he's become like this. It was his. He's the one that decided to push you away."

She trembled at what Xin was saying. "He never-"

"He never told you anything. He shut you out and he knew he was shutting you out." Xin's voice was low and soft; calm, but at the same time, angry. "It hurts to see you like this Alice."

Suddenly, Alice felt overwhelmed with annoyance and anger. She broke away from Xin and whipped around to yell at him, "don't try to blame Dante for everything! He had no choice! If you want someone to blame, then blame me! Obviously, I was too weak and naive. That's why Dante chose not to tell me anything! Obviously-!" Alice's voice trailed off and she fell silent for a minute.

"Obviously...we didn't have that strong of a relationship like I thought we did," Alice murmured. Her vision blurred up with tears from that realization. Even if Dante hadn't told her of Krylin and her plans, Alice knew that she should have figured it out herself.

As Alice stood rooted to the spot, Xin took his leave. He stepped out into the hallway and gently closed the door behind him. After the soft click was heard, he let out a soft sigh and whispered, "maybe now you two can heal."

* * *

><p>"Leaving?"<p>

Cedric laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "How should I say this? I miss her?" He noticed Athena's skeptical look and he laughed again. "Don't worry Miss Athena! I only want to be put on leave for a while! Just so I can go visit her."

"Are you sure she won't mind? From what I've noticed between you, Ada seems to dislike you."

The green haired bandit nodded his head. "Dislike, not hate."

Athena sighed tiredly and waved her hand. "Fine, but I expect you to be back in a few days."

"Hm? Why's that?"

The elven archer shot Cedric a disgruntled look. "Don't tell me you already forgot about the monthly war meetings."

"Can't I skip that? They're so boring."

"No," Athena immediately countered sharply. "You know that all of the platoon leaders are required to attend."

Cedric pouted. "Fine."

"I mean it," she said sternly. "If you miss it or decide to ditch, I'll suspend you from all quests for a week."

"How is that a punishment?" Cedric laughed, but stopped as soon as he saw Athena giving him a deathly glare. "S-Sorry, Miss Athena. I'll be going now."

As soon as the bandit left, Athena sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Jeez...he's lucky he's one of our best fighters."

* * *

><p><em>"Alice..." <em>

_She was surrounded by plain white space and nothing, but space._

_"Alice..." _

_Alice turned around quickly, trying to find the source of the familiar voice. "Dante! Dante, where are you?" She whipped around and let out an involuntary loud gasp when she suddenly came face to face with Dante. _

_He had blood coating his neck and some parts of his face and had a gaping wound on his chest. However, he seemed as though he was not in any pain, for he stared at her with an impassive stare. _

_"Dante..." _

_"Why didn't you save me?" _

_"I couldn't! I-" _

_Dante stepped closer to her and for once, Alice felt genuinely frightened of him. "Why didn't you save me?" he repeated. _

_"I didn't know what to do!" Alice cried out. She let out a frightened gasp when he suddenly wrapped both of his hands around her thin neck. "Dante," she said, her voice trembling with pure fear. _

_He continued to stare at her with a cold gaze. "You killed me, Alice." _

_"N-No, I didn't- I didn't mean to!" Alice felt him choke her. _

_"You killed me. Now it's a life for a life." _

* * *

><p>Alice shot up from bed with a loud, horrified scream. Her eyes were wide and frenzied as she looked around the dark infirmary room. She looked down at her own hands and saw that both of them were tightly clenching at the white bed sheets, both with white knuckles.<p>

Still shaken up by the nightmare, Alice quickly brought her hands up to her neck and felt around. There were no hands wrapped around it and she couldn't feel any other pressure on it other than her own fingers.

Alice let out a shaking sigh as she relaxed herself. Even though it was nightmare, it all felt so real. The feeling of desperation, the guilt, and the pain.

She sat there in her bed for a while before she decided to get out. The cold night air met her exposed legs underneath her hospital gown, but she ignored it. She couldn't fall back to sleep just yet, not after what she dreamed about.

Tightly hugging herself, Alice uneasily walked out of her room and into the halls. She wanted a breath of fresh air so, she silently made her way towards the inner courtyard of the hospital.

As she slowly shuffled her feet on the ground with each step, she let out a harsh sigh and felt tears gathering in her eyes. She began to wonder if she really did leave Dante there to die. Was there anything she could have done to save him? Surely she should have done something more.

Alice wiped her tears away with the back of her hand as she passed Dante's room. She stopped for a while in front of it and quickly dismissed any ideas to go in there. She didn't have anything to say to him and she didn't want to see him.

The hallway seemed long and lonely as she could only hear her own footsteps. A cold wind swept over her as she got closer to the open air courtyard.

Alice raised her head and let out a startled sound when she saw Dante sitting on one of the stone benches. He was turned away from her at first, but he turned towards her when he heard her startled gasp.

They locked eyes for a while and they stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity. Finally a gentle wind stirred through the courtyard and Alice slowly moved her hand up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. She saw him with a rather passive expression on his face, not like the cold gaze he had given her in her dream.

Dante finally broke their silent gaze and looked away. "So..." he started to say, "you said you were my martyr?"

"Uh...y-yes."

"I see." He remained silent for a while, looking down at his calloused hands in his lap.

Alice gently bit her bottom lip, a little apprehensive of going near him, but she slowly walked towards him. When she got up to the stone bench, he spoke up once more.

"Did we like each other?"

She wasn't sure on how to answer him. What version of the word 'like' was he talking about?

"We did," she responded simply. "We didn't at first, but...things changed."

"So I managed to tolerate you?" Dante let out a soft chuckle. He leaned his elbows on his knees and brought his hands up to his mouth. His red eyes glanced over at her and then he laughed again. "Didn't think I could ever be with a martyr like you."

"Eh?"

"You look weak and too soft."

Anger spiked in Alice and she resisted the urge to hit him across the head. "You're one to talk! At least I'm not the one that needed to be saved!" She couldn't believe the nerve of him to be ungrateful towards the person that saved him.

"I would be thanking you, but from what I've heard, it wasn't you who saved me."

"Wh-What?"

"Athena was the one that casted Hero's Will, wasn't she? Technically, she was the one that saved me."

Alice balled up her fists at her sides, frustrated with him, but she knew that he was speaking the truth. She really wasn't the one that saved him, but until now, she had thought that she would be the one. "You..." Her voice shook. "You're not Dante..."

"What?" he snapped out, sitting up straight. "Are you stupid or something-?"

"You're the stupid one! Stupid Dante!" Alice shouted angrily. "You never bothered to tell me anything! You never let me help you, so then of course I couldn't save you!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dante asked, anger flaring in his own voice.

"What was the point of keeping such a secret from me? It's strange!"

Dante glared at her, then shot up from his seat. He stared down at her, but Alice stared right back at him. "Who are you calling strange? Huh?"

"You! You are! Even now you think that you're Dante, when you're not!"

Alice heard him growl in frustration and saw his hand go up as if he were going to hit her, but she stood her ground. "Go ahead and hit me then! You'll only be proving me right!" she yelled, staring directly into his fierce red eyes. Finally Alice said in a soft voice, "Dante would never hit me."

Dante's chest heaved up and down in accordance to each harsh breath. His face that showed anger slowly disappeared as he tried to calm himself down. His raised hand closed into a loose fist and he dropped it back down to his side.

Although Alice put on a brave front, her heart was pounding away like crazy inside of her chest. She thought it would escalate to violence, but it didn't and she breathed a soft sigh of relief when she saw his hand dropping down.

Without another word, Dante walked away. Alice stayed where she was, staring down at the grassy ground until she heard him speak to her once more.

"I am myself," he said, turning his head slightly to look back at her. "But if you really believe that I'm not, then why don't you try saving me this time?"

* * *

><p>She felt restless.<p>

Ada bit down on the inside of her cheek in distaste. It didn't feel right to her to be staying with her parents. She wanted to go outside of Magatia, even out into the sweltering hot Ariant desert. She just wanted some adventure.

"So boring," she muttered under her breath as she slowly walked down the dark street that was only lit up with dim streetlamps.

A slight wind blew past her as she walked in front of an alleyway. Her dark gray hair, that now touched down to her shoulders, tickled her arm. She stopped in her tracks and slowly turned her head around. There was a strange presence behind her.

Ada narrowed her gray eyes and sharply turned around. She expected to see someone, but all she saw was an empty street. Ada felt uneasy and refused to let down her guard. She could feel it, the presence of someone's mana, even though it was quite faint.

As she turned back around to head home, she felt a hand grab her tightly by the wrist and drag her into the nearby alleyway. Before Ada could make any noise, another hand was clapped over her mouth.

She yelled in protest and struggled, but she couldn't free herself. Silently, she cursed. The one time she didn't carry around her throwing knives and its when she's being ambushed.

Ada struggled some more, but the man that held her only held on tighter.

"Shhh," he said, whispering into her ear.

The gray haired assassin suddenly froze and widened her eyes when she felt the arm around her move up slightly and slowly, right up to her ample chest. She turned a cherry red in the face and clenched her fists. The nerve of this pervert! With all of her might, she kicked the man in the shins, followed by a quick jab of her elbow into his chest.

He promptly let go of her and slumped against the wall.

"You bastard! I oughta-!"

"Wait! Ada! It's me! Cedric!"

"What...?" She immediately recognized his voice when he let out a sheepish laugh. Ada lowered her fists and glared down at him, seeing him a little bit better now that her eyes got adjusted to the dark. "Wh-What the hell...?"

"Hm?" he asked, smiling. Blissfully unaware of her rising temper.

Ada kicked him in the legs, hard, causing him to let out a sharp 'ow.' "You lecher! You damn pervert! Who taught you that you could pick up girls by dragging them into a dark alleyway? Huh?" she shouted, blushing heavily. "You were trying to grab at my chest, weren't you?"

Cedric shielded himself with his arms as Ada continued to hit him. "We-Well...would you like the truth or should I lie?" he asked, laughing.

The hermit let out a dangerous growl and hit him on the head. "You damn player!"

"But Ada!" the bandit whined, cowering from her attacks. "I only want to touch your chest! They look so soft and warm and-" Cedric stopped when he received a bag full of trash to the face.

"Stop fantasizing about my breasts, you lecher!" Ada was somewhat glad that the alleyway was dark, for her cheeks were red as an apple. Although she despised his perverted comments, Ada was glad that he had come back to visit her. It's been months since she's seen him and seeing him was like she had excitement back in her life again.

Cedric grabbed her hand and pulled her down to him. Ada let out a surprised yelp as she was pulled into his lap. "Wh-What the hell-?"

"I missed my cute Ada!" the green haired bandit said happily, hugging her tightly against him.

Ada blushed, but she didn't push him away. "Stupid pervert," she mumbled, clutching at the black fabric of his Pirate top. She heard him laughing softly against her neck and Ada sighed. He sounded like a little kid that just got a hold of his favorite toy.

He pulled away and looked at her face. Ada noticed this and quickly looked down. "What are you staring at?" she grumbled, hoping that he didn't see her blushing face.

"You face!" he exclaimed.

"Huh?"

Cedric leaned forward until his forehead touched hers. "Ada got even more cuter when I was away." He smiled when he saw her show an angry and embarrassed expression. "I missed you," he whispered, gently kissing her nose. "I mean it."

"Stop trying to be Casanova. You player..."

"Did you miss me too?" he asked, hopefully. His green eyes seemed to shine with the dim moonlight as he looked up at her.

Ada wanted to snap back at him with an "of course not," but she couldn't when she saw the boyish look on his face. Instead, she turned away and mumbled under her breath, "maybe a little."

Cedric noticed the faint blush on her cheeks, but he thought he shouldn't mention it to her. Instead he laughed and buried his face in her chest. "So you do love me!"

"Wh-What? Since when did I say that? Quit making up weird assumptions by yourself! And get your face out of my chest before I kill you!"

* * *

><p>"So, how have you been?"<p>

"Good. Could be better."

Cedric looked at her and noticed a little bit of sadness in her eyes. He let out a loud sigh and leaned back against the wooden bench. "Alice misses you too, you know."

Ada flinched at the mention of her friend's name. "H-How is she?" she stuttered out, a little uneasy.

"Why don't you go ask her yourself?"

She suddenly stood up. "I can't!" she exclaimed, surprising herself with how she reacted. Ada saw Cedric's own surprised expression and she tried to calm herself down. "I can't go see her," she repeated in a softer voice.

"But isn't she your friend?"

"She is! But..." Ada clenched her teeth and looked away from him. "She's not the same person as before! Ever since Dante died, she's just different! She barely smiles at me, she never laughs at my jokes...why would I want to be around her when she's like that?" she asked, almost in a demanding way as if Cedric could provide her the answer.

"Well..." Cedric took the assassin's hand and gently pulled her back to sit down. "She's still your friend, isn't she? She cares about you and I'm sure she's lonely if her best friend isn't by her side during this time." He smiled, gently squeezing Ada's hand. He saw her expression change to that of embarrassment at what he told her. "You should come back to Orbis with me. Maybe rejoin the Aegis too?"

"Huh?"

"You left because of Alice, didn't you?"

"Saying stupid things again."

"I can say right now...Alice might recover again. A few days ago, we found Dante."

Ada widened her gray eyes and stared at Cedric, bewildered. "What? Alive?"

Cedric nodded. "Alive," he repeated. "There is a little problem though. He looks like he can't remember anything past his promotion to a platoon leader."

"Really...? And what about Alice? Does she know about his memory loss?"

"She took it a little hard," Cedric laughed lightly. "But!" He placed his hand on Ada's shoulder. "This is why you need to come back. Alice needs you the most right now."

Ada lowered her head, her long gray bangs covering her eyes. Finally she muttered, "I'll come back then."

* * *

><p>"Is this really okay?"<p>

"Just take it before I change my mind!" Mytsu exclaimed, shoving a jeweled pin into Alice's hands.

Alice opened up her hand and saw the sparkling pin. It was a beautiful pink lotus flower that was jeweled and decorated with various clear and pink gems. She looked back up at the haughty princess and saw Mytsu blushing a little.

"Didn't you hear me? Just take it. Don't think too much about it. It's only a little gift for protecting me from your crazy boyfriend."

Alice laughed sheepishly. "He's not really my boyfriend...but thank you," she said, smiling broadly. "I'll use it well."

Mytsu didn't say anything in response. Instead she only grumbled something that Alice couldn't make out.

The warrior could tell that Mytsu was embarrassed by this gesture, but she decided not to say anything about it. Alice simply smiled and asked, "so, where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Huh?"

"You casted some type of magic when you were helping me fight Dante."

"Oh that," Mytsu waved her hand, "it was nothing. Back when I was at the palace, my father asked a warrior to help me learn how to fight. Apparently he had learned a few skills from one the Cygnus Knights themselves."

"Wow," Alice replied, amazed with the princess' skills.

The blonde crossed her arms over her chest and asked, still embarrassed with how Alice was genuinely in awe over her, "do you feel better now?"

"Eh? O-Oh!" Alice laughed sheepishly as she touched the thin bandage around her neck. "I only need this wound to heal and I'll be okay!"

The small white clock in Mytsu's room chimed softly, showing that it was already eight o' clock.

"I should probably get back home. My little brother will probably worry over me." Alice got up off one of the white chairs she was sitting in and bowed slightly to take her leave. "Thank you very much for inviting me into your room."

The princess huffed and mumbled, "didn't I tell you not to act so formal with me now?"

Alice giggled at the princess' behavior and then nodded. "Understood. Goodnight, pri- I mean - Mytsu." She bowed again, flashing her a soft smile before leaving the room.

* * *

><p>"We've sedated him for now."<p>

"When will he be awake?"

"Well, we'll wake him up again after Grendel and some of the other priests figure out what happened to him."

Lia placed her finger on his lips in thought. "I see," she muttered. "I'll be sure to inform Athena of this."

"Of course." The cleric bowed slightly. "Goodnight Miss Kaji."

"Yes, goodnight."

She stood there in front of the infirmary room, silently and waited until she could no longer hear the cleric's footsteps anymore. Lia let out a sigh. Her heart raced when she wrapped her hand around the metal doorknob. Much to the cleric's knowledge, Lia wasn't there on official Aegis business. She wasn't reporting to Athena. She was only there for herself.

Lia let out a trembling sigh as she twisted the doorknob and opened the door. She stood at the doorway for a while, listening. When she could only hear the sounds of his soft breathing, Lia stepped into the room and gently closed the door behind her.

The fire mage brought her hands up to her chest and clutched at the loose robes. Hesitantly, she walked up to his bedside.

"Are you...?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Her pale hand reached out and touched his fingers. Lia took hold of his hand and clasped it in between both of hers. She felt his hand, touching it and squeezing it gently. Finally, she let out a soft cry and brought his hand up to her mouth.

"You have...the same hands as your father," she said, her voice breaking from her immense shock and happiness. Lia bent down and kissed his calloused knuckles. She knelt there on her knees, crying. The bandages around her eyes were absorbing her tears so that none fell down her cheek, but she continued to bring her hands up to her face, wiping away even though there was nothing there.

She knew it was him, there was no denying it. From his age, to the physical description she's heard over the past few days, along with his name...

"Dante," she cried softly, tightly holding his hand. "I'm sorry."

Lia raised her head and reached out to gently touch his face. Her fingers trembled against the smooth surface of his cheek. She let out a harsh sigh and trailed her hand down to his chest. Her frail hand hesitantly slipped underneath his hospital robes and lingered over his beating heart.

A little smile went across her face at the warmth. "You grew up to be such a good man. Just the fact that you're alive, is more than enough for me." Lia got up to her feet and leaned down to hold him. She smiled against the crook of his neck and whispered in a faint voice, "my beautiful son...Dante."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Sorry for the lack of updates. _

_Please review. If not, I end up working more on my other stories or drawing instead._

_I really want to thank Mapleized for her reviews. You really make me smile whenever I read one of your reviews _


	11. Broken

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit__  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 11 - Broken**

_"Poor boy...it'll only hurt that first time." _

_Dante laid there on the ground and didn't even bother to retaliate at all. He was much too exhausted and in pain to even stay conscious. His vision was blurring up, but he could see a soldier come up to him with a dry rope. _

_"No need," Krylin told the soldier, holding her arm out to stop him. She smiled down at Dante and knelt beside him. "He won't be able to move his body for tonight." Her nails dragged across his face gently, causing him to shiver. "Are you afraid of me now Dante?" _

_He let out a low, weak groan in pain when she dug one of her fingers into the burnt marks on his back. "Stop it..." he whispered weakly. His red eyes fluttered open and closed. _

_"Do you want me to heal you, Dante? The pain's unbearable, isn't it?" she cooed, brushing her fingers through his hair lovingly. _

_Dante didn't respond. _

_"I can't do that." She laughed and wiped the excess blood she had on his finger onto his cheek, leaving a dull red streak on his pale skin. "This mark on your back will help in the soul ritual." _

_"I'll kill myself before I'll let you," Dante breathed out heavily. He cried out in pain when she suddenly waved her hand and an unseen force grabbed him by the neck, slamming him against the prison walls. The invisible force held him there as she crawled over to him. _

_"Foolish. I know you don't want to die. Just be glad that I saved you when you got stabbed." _

_Dante smirked and whispered back, "it wasn't you. It was Alice. The hyperbody spell she casted on me let me live, not your healing-" _

_Krylin slapped him hard across the face, leaving a slight abrasion on his cheek. Her face was twisted in anger as she hissed out, "ungrateful little boy. Don't you dare praise that wench in front of me. It won't matter what kind of spells she casted on you. Without me, this mark on your back will stay forever." She smiled again, leaning up and looking into his red eyes. "You will always be constantly reminded of me. You can never escape me. Never." _

_She kissed him deeply on the lips and didn't pull away until his body grew limp. Krylin smirked at his unconscious face as she got up onto her feet. "I'll always be your master Dante. Not you or your beloved Alice can change that." _

* * *

><p>"Dante? Hey, Dante! Are you there?"<p>

The archer blinked and snapped out of his daze. He found himself still in the hospital room with Cedric, looking at him worriedly. "What...?" he asked.

"You just blanked out on me! Did you even listen to what I asked you?" Cedric said with a slight pout.

"Uh..."

Sighing heavily, Cedric crossed his arms over his chest and repeated, "are you sure you're ready to go back to the Aegis? The clerics did confirm that you have amnesia."

"Screw that," Dante said, getting out of the bed. "It's stuffy in here. I want to go outside."

"Impatient as always." The green haired bandit rubbed his head and eventually gave in. "Fine. I'll go buy you some basic clothes. Once you're changed, we'll go see Athena, alright?" When Dante nodded in agreement, Cedric left the room, mumbling something about resting more and impatience under his breath.

Once he left, Dante walked into the bathroom in his room and went over to the mirror. He looked back at himself and saw how dull his skin looked. His hair was long and messy, even though it was tied up into a ponytail. There was just the slightest bit of stubble on his chin, but not so much that it was clearly visible.

He sighed tiredly and released his ponytail, letting his hair fall down just a little bit past his shoulders. There were several grooming items in the small bathroom and Dante decided that he needed to clean himself up a little before he went out in public.

Silently he stripped himself of his hospital robes and wrapped a towel around his waist. As he ran the hot water in the bathtub, he looked back at the mirror and saw some fleshy pink scars on his back. His eyes widened slightly as he brushed aside his hair to get a clearer view. What he saw shocked him.

It was a circle that encircled a group of other little circles and there were foreign runes written all around inside of it.

_"Prepare the soul transfer." _

_"Don't worry Dante, you won't feel a thing." _

He clutched at his head when he could hear the sound of his own pain riddled cry inside of his head. Dante grit his teeth and fell against the bathroom wall. "Stop...make it stop..." he whispered under his breath.

Then, as if someone was answering his silent pleas, he heard a soft knock on the door.

"Dante...?" he heard a soft, feminine voice ask. He recognized the voice to be Alice's.

"Uh," Dante stuttered, still reeling from the shock from what he had just heard in his head. "What...what do you want?" he asked pointedly.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. You might think it's weird that I'm checking up on you, but if I was in the same situation...I'd like to think that maybe, you'd be doing the same for me." Alice clutched at the hem of her soft cotton shirt. She was nervous talking to him like this.

"Just leave me alone."

Alice clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut. It wasn't that Dante's words were hurting her. It was the large distance between them now. However, despite this Alice knew that she couldn't just give up on him. She didn't want to. "I'm not going to."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're annoying? Or maybe just a plain idiot?"

She raised her head and for some odd reason, she smiled. Alice smiled at the nostalgic words and laughed as happy tears gathered on the corner of her eyes. "Once or twice," she replied, giggling.

"...What the hell are you laughing about?" Dante mumbled, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He hid his face in his hand, even though there was no one around to see him blushing. "I just insulted you..."

"I know."

He heard her giggling again and at the sound of her, he felt a slight ache in his chest. Not a painful ache, but just something...

"What are you even doing in there? Do you need help with something?"

Dante widened his eyes when he heard the doorknob turning. "Wait!" He stepped towards the door to stop her, but as he moved his feet, he realized that the water was still running and was now running freely over the sides of the overfilled tub. He hastily turned the water off, but he was too late with the door.

"If you need help with something I think I can-" Alice stopped talking when she stepped into the bathroom. She locked eyes with Dante for a while and they simply stared at each other in shock. Finally, her eyes trailed down from his face down to his body and immediately her face heated up. "I...I didn't see anything!" she exclaimed, covering her eyes. She attempted to walk away with her eyes covered, but it was futile.

The slippers that she wore, consequently, caused her to slip on the now slickly wet bathroom floor. Alice did a little awkward flail, trying, but failing to catch her balance, and fell flat on her bottom. She sat there in pain as she whined about the fall.

As if that wasn't bad enough, she heard a soft, stifled laugh from behind her. Embarrassed out of her mind, Alice blushed and sharply turned her head back to face Dante.

"It's not funny!" she shouted as she sat there on the wet floor.

Dante's stifled laugh eventually escalated to a full laugh. He held his stomach and tried to form words. "You'd be laughing too if you saw what you just did." He laughed even more, wiping away at the tears that were forming in his eyes.

Alice pursed her lips and got back up on her feet. Ignoring the fact that he was half naked, she marched over to him and hit him on the chest. "Stop laughing! It really hurt! Stupid Dante!"

As she hit him, Alice once again lost her balance and immediately grabbed onto the nearest object, in this case, Dante.

"Hey-!" he exclaimed, trying to keep his own balance.

However, Alice fell, dragging him along with her. They both shouted as they fell into the bathtub. Water splashed everywhere because of their grand fall. Alice opened up her eyes and wondered why the fall didn't hurt so much. Her question was soon answered when she found herself staring down at Dante.

"Eh...uhm..." she stuttered, her face turning red again. Alice had her hands down on either side of his head on the tub's edges.

"Hey Dante? You in there?"

The two of them immediately froze at the sound of Cedric's voice.

"I'm coming in," the bandit said in a sing-song voice. "If you need help with cleaning anything..."

"No, don't!" Dante shouted.

The door opened up. "Oh don't be so shy-" Cedric froze when he saw the sight in front of him. There was a long period of silence between the three, which was eventually broken by Cedric, who grinned and said, "oh Dante, you sly dog. I'll leave you two alone."

"No it's not like that!" Alice exclaimed, blushing heavily. "We fell!"

"-for each other," Cedric teased, finishing up with a light chortle.

"Can you get off...?" Dante muttered, turning away from Alice.

"Eh?"

His cheeks had a light pink blush to him as he mumbled, "your shirt."

The blue haired girl looked down and saw her white cotton shirt was completely see through now because of the water. Alice let out a soft yelp and immediately covered herself and stood up. She hurriedly got out of the tub and ran for the door, but on the way out, she slipped again.

Dante saw this and let out an involuntary snicker.

Alice blushed, hearing his laugh, and yelled at him. "Shut up, stupid Dante!"

"Right back to the teasing, aren't you?" Cedric asked with a soft sigh. "I'll go get her a towel. You stay right there."

He closed the door to the bathroom and left Dante all alone. However, as soon as the door closed, Dante sat up in the tub and buried his hands in his face. His shoulders shook as he laughed. "What the hell's with her?" he asked himself, laughing again. As he did, he couldn't help, but feel strangely nostalgic about the whole thing.

* * *

><p>"Isn't it exciting, Sean?"<p>

"Huh?"

Meg pouted her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. "You weren't even listening to me!"

"I was!"

They were in Orbis Park, just having a small picnic and having a day outdoors on their day off from the academy.

Meg chomped down on a piece of sausage and mumbled, "no you weren't!" She used her fingers to take out another piece of sausage from the lunchbox and passed it to their black and white husky, Dante, who ate it up hungrily. "You were daydreaming!"

"Prove it!" Sean retorted childishly.

"Like I can prove that!"

Meg huffed loudly and practically shoveled the food in her small lunchbox into her mouth. Sean saw this and said in a condescending tone, "you're welcome."

The blond cleric blushed and covered her mouth with her hand as she swallowed it all down. "Don't blame me because you make good food." As Meg reached for another lunchbox, Sean stuck his fork into the rice of his own lunchbox and smiled as he watched her eat away. He found himself liking the fact that she liked the food he cooked.

She noticed him staring at her as she was hungrily digging in. "What?" she asked apprehensively. Her clear blue eyes curiously looked back at him as she carefully touched her cheek. "Is there...something on my face?"

Sean turned away quickly and nervously stuttered, "n-nothing!"

"Liar. You were staring at me. I swear, Sean. If I find even one grain of rice on my face...!"

"I told you it was nothing! I just like that you like the food I made!" Sean admitted in an awkward shout.

"Eh...? O-Oh...is that it?" Meg replied softly, tucking a piece of her soft blond hair behind her small ear. She blushed softly and clutched at the hem of her soft white summer dress. "You could have just said that..."

"Don't you know it's embarrassing?"

Meg turned to look at Sean and saw that his face was red with his eyes averted to the grassy ground. He finally shyly turned his head up to face her and she found herself flinching when their eyes met. She suddenly felt nervous around him, but she did her best to suppress it.

"J-Jeez, Sean!" Meg giggled, leaning over and ruffling up his blue hair. "You're such a little kid!"

Sean felt defeated when he heard those words from her. He watched as she simply brushed him off and continue to eat. That's right...he was nothing more than a friend to her and she would always only think of him as a friend.

He silently went back to his lunchbox and stared down at the slices of cherry tomatoes. His hand went up to his messed up hair and he attempted to straighten his bangs out again.

Meg bit down on a bouncy tofu piece and glanced over at Sean. He looked hurt and she knew exactly why. What he said earlier sounded like a love confession or what lovers would say to each other. She was under the assumption that she and Sean had been slowly outgrowing their friendship and developing into..._something._ But she didn't want that, not with Sean.

_"I can't think of him of anything else other than a friend." _

Seeing the defeated look on his delicate face, Meg felt her heart ache. She felt sorry for him, but she couldn't do anything about it. She was afraid to say anything to him in fear that he would be hurt more.

* * *

><p>Athena pursed her lips and spoke clearly again, repeating what she had just said. "There are no precautions to take, Dark. Grendel stated himself that Dante is free of the dark presence that he sensed before."<p>

"Even so, how do we know that's just not Krylin being clever? She could be just hiding her magic inside of him!" the thief yelled across the long table. When he saw Athena's determined and fixed gaze, Dark let out a frustrated growl and pushed himself away from the table. "Forget it. If you want to endanger the Aegis with internal collapse, then by all means, go for it."

"We will only collapse if you cannot trust. We require a collective agreement on this," Dances with Balrog calmly stated.

"I assure you," Grendel added in, holding his wooden staff tightly. "Me and several other priests have conducted thorough checks on Mr. Kyudo while he was sedated. We found absolutely no signs of dark magic inside of him."

"That's ridiculous!" said Dark with a scoff. "Why would Krylin just let him go like that? There's no way. Not when she was so close."

"Are you doubting my abilities, Dark?" Athena asked, lacing up her hands and bringing them up to her lips. She closed her eyes and muttered, "I made sure that I learned the Hero's Will spell carefully over the past few years, just so I can expel Krylin's magic from Dante. It is an incredibly difficult and draining spell, but I performed it without a fail." Athena opened up her eyes and narrowed her icy blue eyes at Dark. "I'm sure of it."

Seeing as how he couldn't argue back to her, Dark simply leaned back in his chair with a disgruntled look on his face.

"We are reinstating Dante Kyudo back to his platoon leader status, no matter what. He clearly has passed the physical and mental exams with flying colors, despite his amnesia." The elf stood up from her seat and looked over each of the job instructor's faces. "If any of you object to this, please speak now."

Both Grendel and Dances with Balrog nodded their heads in agreement. Athena looked over at Dark and lingered until he finally waved his hand and muttered, "fine."

Athena smiled gently down at Dark and thanked him, to which he grumbled something incoherent. "Now," she turned to Grendel and asked, "if you may open up the doors to let him in."

The mage nodded once and brought up his wrinkled hand. With a slight wave, the heavy marble doors opened up. Behind them stood Dante, looking up at the four council members. He waited until the doors were fully opened before stepping into the room.

"We've decided to reinstate your platoon leader status, Dante," the elven archer said with a warm smile. She picked up a small pin off the table and walked down the steps towards him. "Congratulations." She took his hand and gently pressed the small, golden shield pin into the palm of his hand.

"Thank you," he muttered. He sounded slightly confused and Athena took note of it.

"What's wrong?"

Dante let out a soft chuckle and looked into the archer's eyes. "It...just feels like I've done this only yesterday, but according to Cedric, it's been three years already."

"Hopefully your memory will catch up with you soon." Athena wrapped his fingers around the pin securely. "In the meantime, you should pickup your weapon from the blacksmith and some armor. Although I won't be sending you out on a quest any time soon-"

"What?" Dante immediately asked incredulously.

"You need a martyr-"

"No I don't," he quickly countered. "I can take care of things by myself."

"Dante, I refuse to have this conversation with you again," Athena said sternly. "You objected to having a martyr when you first entered as a platoon leader and even now, you're still stubborn about it."

The black haired bowmaster bit back his tongue from saying anymore.

"Now...until we pick a new martyr for you, you will remain here in Orbis."

"What? Isn't Alice my martyr?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

"_Was_," Grendel piped in. "Currently she is Lia Kaji's martyr and it will create confusion to both parties if Alice was relocated to you. Even though Alice may conform to your style of fighting and tactics easily because of your past relationship, you will be hindered because of your memory loss. It'll be like starting over anew with you. In addition, it will be very hard to find another martyr for Miss Kaji because of her unfortunate handicap."

"Then hurry up and find me one."

Athena sighed half-heartedly. "It's nice to know that you didn't lose that stubborn, hot-headed attitude of yours, Dante. Just be patient. The process for matching you up with a suitable martyr will be difficult and it could take up to a month."

Dante dropped his gaze in defeat as he mumbled, "I understand."

"Good."

* * *

><p>"Well, at least you're reinstated!"<p>

"Yeah, barely." Dante scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I can't go out on quests unless I get a martyr. Why do I even need one? I'm perfectly fine on my own."

"That's what you think," Cedric replied with a soft chuckle. He leaned back against the park bench they were sitting on and looked up at the clear blue sky. "Just wait. Athena will assign you a top-notch martyr and you'll be out questing in no time."

The archer let out a soft, frustrated sigh as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

Cedric glanced over at his friend and wrapped his arm around his shoulders in a rowdy manner. "Hey! You didn't get to the blacksmiths or to the tailors for your weapon and armor, did you?"

"No..." Dante mumbled, apprehensively. He then suddenly felt Cedric grab his wrist and pull him up off the bench.

"Then let's go! I'm dying to see how the tailor will make your armor!"

As Cedric pulled Dante along behind him, the archer protested. "Slow down, Cedric! It's nothing to be this excited about!"

* * *

><p>"Hm, mhm...mhm..."<p>

Dante nervously let his eyes follow the old woman that was taking a tape measure and measuring nearly every part of his body. He looked over at Cedric, who simply grinned and gave him two, enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Turn around," the old woman said sharply, adjusting her black, cat eye glasses.

He did as he was told and immediately he felt her throw the tape measure over his head and measure his neck. When she brought it up to measure around his head, Dante told her, "uh...I'm not really one to wear a hat-"

"Be quiet," she snapped, abruptly shutting him up. "I need all measurements."

Dante let out a soft sigh and stared blankly at his reflection in the mirror in front of him until she was done with all of her measurements.

She wrapped up her tape measure and said to him, "would you like something lightweight for agility or something heavier for more defense?"

"Nothing in between?"

"Hm." She pursed her lips and walked into the back of her shop. "You're free to go. Come pick up your new clothes and armor next week."

As she left the main area of the shop, Dante turned to Cedric and whispered, "was that a yes or a no?"

Cedric shrugged. "Who knows? But don't worry about a thing! She's a great tailor. Even made my clothes!" he said with great pride, tugging on the jagged collar of his black Pirate top. He threw his arm over Dante's shoulders again and pointed forwards. "Let's go pick up your weapon now!"

"Why are you so enthusiastic?" Dante mumbled, feeling slightly embarrassed to be seen with his loud friend as they exited the tailor's shop.

The green haired bandit laughed whole-heartedly and gave his friend's shoulder a strong hit, causing Dante to stumble on his feet. "Come on! I've missed you! This is like...the first time in _years_ that we've been able to hang out together! I can't help it!"

Dante rubbed his now aching shoulder, but he smiled a little. He felt happy when he heard those words from his best friend. "You're still a weirdo," he muttered.

"That's why you like me!" Cedric exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Dante's shoulder again. He brought him in close and asked, "say, up for a drink after this?"

"Is that all you think about?"

"Only with you!"

The black haired man let out an exasperated sigh and buried his face in his hand. "Fine, but I swear, if you make me drink more than a glass...-"

"Alright!" Cedric cheered, even before Dante could finish his sentence. "Let's hurry up and get to the blacksmith!" Before he could run off while dragging Dante along behind him, he stopped and turned his friend towards him.

Dante raised an eyebrow, confused, and asked, "what's wrong?"

The bandit quirked his lips up in a little pout as he examined his friend. "Hmm, ah! I know." He brought his hand up and took a lock of Dante's long black bangs in between his index and middle fingers. "You should get a haircut."

"Huh?"

"Long hair makes you look gloomy."

Dante furrowed his brow and pinched at some of his bangs. "I think it looks fine..."

Cedric shook his head in disapproval. "Trust me. You'll be saying different once I get you to Mino. He's a great hair stylist. But! That's after we get your weapon, huh?"

Still unsure about the idea of a haircut, Dante unwillingly followed Cedric as they went towards the blacksmith's shop. All the while, he continued to rub a lock of his hair in between his fingers, at least until they got to the shop.

"Hope they repaired your weapon well! It was pretty beat up when I brought it back to Orbis."

Dante followed Cedric into the shop and immediately he felt the hot air from the furnaces and hot coal inside. All around, he saw fairies, busily working away at various weapons, either making a new one from raw materials or repairing damaged ones.

"Welcome!" a fairy greeted as she flew past them with a bucket full of mithril ores.

The bandit smiled back at her and walked up to the front counter. He and Dante both stopped when they saw the back of a blue haired girl.

"Alice? Is that you?" Cedric asked.

The girl turned around and it was indeed Alice. She widened her blue eyes in surprise and asked, "Cedric? Dante? What are you doing here?"

"To pick up this guy's weapon," he replied, throwing his hand over his shoulder and pointing to Dante with his thumb.

"Oh, me too," Alice said with a little smile. "My Eviscerator got a little bit damaged over the past few months. Maybe used it too much for defending rather than attacking," she admitted with a sheepish laugh. Nervously, she glanced over at Dante. When they locked gazes, Alice quickly turned away, blushing.

"Miss? Here's your weapon," the huge, husky blacksmith said, holding out the heavy polearm with one hand.

"Thank you." Alice turned back to Cedric and nodded her head a little. "Well, I'll be going now. It was nice meeting...both of you."

"Wait, Alice!" Cedric grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Are you by any chance busy tonight?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well." He smiled slyly and patted the warrior on the shoulder. "Would you like to join Dante and me for a couple of drinks at the tavern? You don't have to drink, but it'd be nice for some female company, right Dante?"

The black haired archer frowned a little and crossed his arms over his chest. He turned away and mumbled, "it's up to you."

Alice, confused by his response, stared at him until Cedric let out a laugh.

"He means yes!"

"Ah," Alice laughed nervously. "Actually...Ada and I wanted to catch up a little bit. We didn't get a chance to really talk since she's still moving some of her things from Magatia to Orbis."

"Hm, no problem!"

"Eh?"

"How about we make it a double date?" Cedric said with a little wink.

"Hey!" Dante was the first to speak up. "I'm not going on a date-!"

"So? How about it Alice?" the bandit asked, cutting into Dante's sentence.

Alice fretfully let her eyes roam the dusty ground of the shop, as if the answer was somewhere in the little pebbles of dust. Finally, she looked back up at Cedric and nodded. "I'll see what Ada has to say."

"Then tonight at eight?"

"Okay." Alice flashed the two men a smile and waved goodbye before taking her leave.

As soon as the warrior had left the blacksmith's shop, Cedric turned back around towards Dante with a sly grin on his face. "I did good, right?"

Dante frowned at his friend and grumbled, "I didn't want this to be turned into a date."

"Oh don't act so gloomy! I'm blaming your hair. We're definitely going to go get you a haircut after this."

"I don't want a haircut-!"

"I bet Alice would fall in love with you all over again once she sees you with a snappy new hairstyle!" Cedric snickered at the shy blush that was forming on Dante's face.

"W-Why would I care what that stupid girl thinks about my hair?"

"You do care!" the green haired man sang in a teasing sort of way as he nudged his friend in the ribs. Dante hastily brushed him off and went over to the front counter.

"Could I have my Arund please?" he asked the husky blacksmith. Dante tried to ignore Cedric's snickering as the blacksmith went into the back of the shop.

The blacksmith came back to the front counter, holding a brilliantly shiny Dark Arund in his hands. He held it out to Dante with pride and with a beaming smile. "Such a beaut', aint' she? Had the best minerals and ores worked into her. I'm willing to bet my life on the fact that it won't break for another 100 years!"

"That's great." Dante took it with a grateful smile. "Thanks for your hard work."

The two left the blacksmith's shop and as soon as they stepped out on the white cobblestone streets of Orbis, Cedric threw his arm over Dante's shoulders tightly, preventing him from walking.

"Where are you going, Dante? The hairdresser is this way!" Cedric pointed into the opposite direction. He laughed at the sight of his friend's expression of discontent. "Oh come on! I'm doing you a favor! Don't worry, Mino is excellent with hair."

"But-"

"Don't worry about the cost! I'm paying for it. You can thank me later!"

Dante let out a frustrated sigh as he was helplessly dragged along by his friend's whim. "I don't feel too right with this..."

"Gloomy!" Cedric exclaimed. "If you keep acting like this, I'll really call you by that nickname!"

"Then I'll just call you a 'flamboyant pervert.'"

"You can't! Ada already calls me a pervert! That name's reserved only for her!"

"Is that all you care about...?"

* * *

><p>Night fell quickly over Orbis. The only sources of light were from the soft glow of the various floating rocks tied to some of the buildings and from the few street lamps. There was no moon out and for some reason, it made Alice feel slightly uneasy.<p>

"Why does that pervert want to meet us at the tavern?" Ada grumbled, puffing up her cheeks in irritation. She held her hands behind her head and walked leisurely down the street alongside Alice.

"He did say it was a double date," Alice informed her friend, who reacted with a loud scoff.

"So that's his motive. Pervert...Do you know that he tried to make a move to try and grab my boobs?"

Alice widened her eyes at Ada. "Eh? R-Really? When?" She was curious since she honestly was confused about the relationship between the two.

"When he came to visit me. Some greeting, huh?"

"And what did you do?"

Ada smiled smugly and jabbed her thumb into her chest. "Of course I beat the crap out of him!"

Alice looked at her friend in surprise for a while before she broke into a soft giggle. "You really haven't changed at all!"

The gray haired thief smiled at the sight of Alice laughing. It felt like old times again. "Hey...I'm sorry for leaving you here by yourself, Alice."

"Huh?" Confused by the sudden change in atmosphere, Alice tilted her head slightly as she stared at Ada with wide blue eyes. "What are you talking about Ada?"

As if Ada was ashamed to admit this, she tugged a little at the bill of her black newsboy cap so that it would hide her face just a little bit. "I pretty much abandoned you. Even though you don't think so, I really did."

"Ada..."

"A real friend wouldn't do that, would they? To be honest...I was scared about getting hurt, but in the end, I only hurt you."

"Well...I didn't get hurt." Alice smiled sadly as they continued to walk towards the tavern. "Maybe...a little bit confused on why you left, but it's fine!" She saw the worried look on Ada's face. "Really!" Trying to reassure her, Alice gently squeezed her arm. "I'd rather us catch up on the good things, than the bad ones."

Ada pouted a little as she tugged on her newsboy cap. Eventually, she broke out into a little smile and gave a slight nod. "Fine. I suppose you're right."

Alice smiled back at her and faced forward again. She giggled softly as she looked up at the night sky. "I'm actually really curious as to what Cedric's planning. He seemed really adamant about meeting us at the tavern."

The black haired assassin shrugged, seeming as though she couldn't care less. "For all we know, he's just probably trying to get of us drunk off our asses. Well, it doesn't matter because I'm sure that I can hold my alcohol pretty damn well."

* * *

><p>"Another glass please!"<p>

Alice timidly sat there as she watched Ada wave a huge beer glass in the air, calling for a bar maid. "A-Ada...didn't you say you wouldn't get drunk?"

"Ha? Listen here." Ada slammed down the glass on the wooden table loudly, not that it was very loud compared to the rest of the noise in the tavern. Drunkenly, Ada pointed at Alice and shouted, "I'm only drunk if I say I'm drunk and this here?" She jabbed her thumb into her chest, which was then followed by a loud hiccup. "This? I'm not drunk."

When Ada let out a loud, obnoxious laugh, Alice slumped in her seat, embarrassed and in a vain attempt to try and disappear from sight.

"Jeez, they better not be patronizing me. How hard is it to fill up another glass?" Ada grumbled as she got up from her seat. She wobbled slightly, causing Alice to get up from her seat in worry. However, the thief soon waved off her friend. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

Alice sat back down and watched as her friend stumbled in between the crowds in an attempt to try and find someone that would serve her more beer. With this unexpected turn of events, Alice crossed her legs and sighed heavily. Now she was left all alone in a noisy, rowdy tavern where everyone seemed to be drunk. Just perfect.

"Hey cutie."

The warrior turned to see a group of three men, obviously drunk as well, staring down at her, or rather ogling. Alice suddenly felt uneasy and she silently wished that Ada would come back soon.

"Would you like to join me and my friends for a couple of drinks? We promise we won't bite...unless you want us to." He chuckled, along with his friends, then winked at her.

"We-Well...I'm kind of with a friend..."

"Even better!" He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up from her seat. "She can join us too!"

"I really don't want to!" Alice yelled, panicking now. She tried to get away from the man's grip, but he held on tightly.

"Come on! It'll be really fun!"

She cringed at the smell of alcohol coming from the man's mouth. Clenching her teeth, Alice used her legs to kick the man hard in the shins. He let out a sharp cry, but immediately smirked and pulled her roughly towards him. "Now, now. You'll have to pay for that little injury you gave me."

Alice shivered when he grabbed her lewdly around the waist. It felt extremely unpleasant and she just wished that Ada or someone would take notice of this situation.

As if answering her silent prayers, Alice felt a hand grab her by the wrist. She widened her blue eyes at the sight of Dante standing in front of them.

"Let her go. It's obvious she doesn't want to go with you," he told the group of men, sternly.

"Hands off, boy. We found this nice catch first!" one of the other men piped up.

Dante narrowed his red eyes and stepped forward. He delivered a strong punch into the jaw of the man that held Alice. Promptly, he let go of the blue haired girl and Dante immediately pulled her towards him. "Disgusting," he whispered in a dangerous tone. "Don't even think that I'm here for the same reasons that you are."

The middle-aged man that Dante had hit, rubbed his sore jaw and glared. "Tch! Whatever, forget it."

Alice watched as they walked away to another part of the tavern. A sigh of relief passed by her lips when they disappeared into the crowd. She then turned her head up to face Dante. "Uh...th-thanks-"

Dante let her go and grumbled, "this is why I didn't want to come here in the first place."

"Eh?"

He looked at her directly and stated, "aren't you a warrior? You could have taken those guys on easily."

"I tried to! They were really strong! And it's not really easy to move around in this skirt!"

"Of course. Why did I expect you to be that strong when you clearly have those lanky noodle arms?"

Alice pursed her lips in annoyance and shouted, "fine! I was about to say that your new haircut was nice, but I guess not!" She figured she hit a weak spot, when Dante flinched, just barely, and immediately brought up a hand to tug on his bangs.

"S-So?"

He looked extremely self-conscious about his new, short hairstyle, but in Alice's honest opinion, it made him look younger and more attractive. At this point, she didn't even know why he was tugging on his front bangs when they were at just the right length, stopping just above his eyes. In fact, she didn't know why he was self-conscious at all when he clearly looked good with his new hairstyle.

"Stupid Dante...you look fine. You don't need to get all self-conscious."

Dante immediately blushed softly and shouted, "idiot! Who said I'm being self-conscious!"

"It's written all over your face!" Alice retorted.

The black haired male growled in annoyance, but resisted on continuing this silly tirade. "Whatever. Let's just get over to a new table."

"But what about Ada?"

"Don't worry. Cedric and I bumped into her on the way in. She was really making a scene of herself."

Alice silently followed Dante through the crowds, weaving in and out in between the drunken patrons. It was hard to stay close to him when there were rough crowds that occasionally bumped into her. At one point, she nearly lost sight of him, but that's when she felt him grab her hand.

"Don't let go," he told her.

She looked up at him in shock, then nodded slyly. Alice wrapped her fingers around his large, calloused hand and liked the warmth enveloping her own hand. It felt inviting and nostalgic.

When they finally arrived at their new table, Alice felt Dante let go of her hand and she felt slightly saddened at the retreating warmth.

"Dante," Cedric whispered as he got up from his seat. He looked slightly frazzled and panicked as he discreetly pointed over at Ada. "Help me. She's a complete monster-!"

"Oi!" Ada shouted, her face a bright red from the alcohol. "Where do you think you're going, playboy?" Roughly, she grabbed at the hem of Cedric's dark blue jacket and yanked him down back to his seat. "Tryin' to leave me, huh?"

"O-Of course not Ada!" Cedric stuttered, turning back to Dante and mouthing the words 'help me.'

"Good! You better not!" she yelled, hitting him hard on the shoulder.

The green haired bandit whimpered at the pain as he rubbed his sore shoulder.

Dante sighed and took his seat across from his friend and Alice sat down in the chair next to him.

"You asked for this Cedric. A double date at a tavern..." The archer scoffed at what he said.

"I didn't know Ada would-!" Cedric stopped talking as soon as Ada hooked her arm around his neck. Alice thought the fearful look on his face looked comical, rather than pitiful.

"You didn't know Ada would what?" she asked, taking another generous gulp of beer. Ada hiccuped right next to his ear, which caused Cedric to flinch in fear.

"Eh, well...you see..."

"Speak up, pretty boy!"

"It's nothing!"

Alice and Dante silently watched as Ada continued to abuse Cedric in front of them, not that they had any incentive to help the helpless bandit. For the rest of the night, Alice really didn't get any time to do the catching up that she wanted to do with Ada. Instead, she spent the whole night watching her drunk friend getting Cedric drunk as well. In the end, both of them were drunk and all Dante did was hide his face in his hands in embarrassment.

* * *

><p>"Cedric, quit drinking."<p>

"Hey!" Ada exclaimed, chugging down a whole glass in front of Dante before she spoke to him again. She let out a loud burp, to which Cedric laughed lightly and Dante glared at. "He can drink as much as he wants!"

All Cedric did was nod as he silently drank another glass.

"You're both drunk, you know that? How are you going to walk back to the barracks now?"

"We're totally not drunk!" the assassin replied, slamming down her glass. "Right, pretty boy?" she asked, referring to Cedric.

All he did was meekly nod and hiccup.

"The only one that's drunk is Alice!"

Dante turned to his left and saw the blue haired girl slumped in her seat, fast asleep. He didn't know how anyone could sleep in such a noisy environment, but he declined to say anything. "She's asleep. You two are the only ones that are drunk."

He sighed tiredly as he got up from his seat. "I'm calling it a night." As Dante leaned down to pick Alice up, Ada let out a loud exclamation.

"You better not do anything funny to her! She's my friend!"

"I know," Dante said pointedly, hooking his arm underneath Alice's knees.

"I'll beat the crap out of you if you do!"

Cedric laughed, almost like a little schoolgirl and patted Ada on the shoulder. "You're so funny, Ada."

Dante clicked his tongue in disgust as he quickly made his way out of the tavern, leaving the two drunken thieves alone. He got out onto the streets and felt relieved at the fresh, cool night air. Alice stirred slightly in his arms, but went back to sleeping.

"Can't believe I was actually your platoon leader," he muttered.

He walked on for a few minutes before he came to the realization that he didn't know where her house was.

"Great."

Dante sighed in defeat, knowing that he would probably have to wake her up.

"Eh? Is that my sister?"

The archer turned to see a young boy, probably no older than 16, with the same blue hair and blue eyes as Alice. He had a husky down by his feet. "Uh you are...?"

Anxiously, the young boy ran up to them, his pet husky following closely behind, and blinked as he looked up at Dante. Finally, his face brightened in realization. "Oh!" He gasped, taking Dante by surprise. "Are you Dante?"

"Yes...-"

"Do you remember me? Sean! I know we didn't talk that much, but I usually answered the door when you would come by to take my sister somewhere." He laughed sheepishly, completely unaware of the fact that Dante was suffering from amnesia.

"Not really," Dante replied, feeling slightly uneasy with his response. Was he supposed to remember him?

"Oh," Sean mumbled, letting his laughter die down. "Well! In any case, thanks for bringing my sister back! You..._were _going to bring her back home, right?"

Dante, taken aback by Sean's sudden protective tone, raised an eyebrow. "Of course I was," he grumbled, embarrassed.

"I guess you need directions to our house," Sean said, loosening up immediately. He smiled at Dante and walked ahead of him. "Just follow me."

As Dante followed the young boy back to his house, he asked, "what are you doing out here this late, anyways?"

"Hm?" Sean turned back around. Dante was in awe at how alike the two siblings looked, although Sean did look slightly more masculine than Alice. "I was just out with a friend. You should meet her someday. Her name's Meg. I think you'll like her."

"Ah, I see." Dante didn't ask for that much information, but he figured that Sean was probably just as naive and honest as his older sister.

They soon arrived at their house and Sean opened up the front door to let Dante in. However, before Dante could get in, Sean's husky darted into the dark house first.

"Sorry for the mess," Sean said sheepishly as he turned on the lights. "I didn't get a chance to clean up for a few days."

Dante stepped into the homely abode and asked, "where should I-?"

"Oh! Right. My sister's room is down the hall to the left. Thanks again for bringing her back home."

"It's not a problem-"

"I know! You look like you're hungry! I'll get you some cookies to take with you, okay?" Sean smiled broadly as he rushed off into the small kitchen. "Hope you like chocolate chip!"

Seeing as how he couldn't stop the young boy from giving him the cookies, Dante didn't bother to say anything and simply went into the hall that Sean had pointed him to. He felt Alice stir in his arms again, but she continued to sleep as he entered her room. Gently, he deposited her onto her soft bed and even took the time to unbuckle the sandals from her feet.

Afterwards, he looked back at her sleeping expression and let out a soft sigh. "Such a naive, stupid girl...did we really get along like you said we did?" he asked quietly, touching her cheek. "If we really were that close, why can't I remember anything about you?"

Dante fixated his gaze on the crook of her neck. Perhaps...if he could just get a whiff of her scent, it could jog his memory. Or at least that's what Cedric informed him earlier. Certain scents and noises can trigger memories, even ones that were thought to be forgotten.

He scoffed lightly as he let his fingers flit over her waved, cyan colored hair. "What a load of crap."

Despite what came out of his mouth, Dante found himself to be leaning down slowly. He closed his eyes as the tip of his nose brushed against her neck. She smelled just faintly of alcohol, but underneath it he could make out a slight fruity scent. However, taking in her scent did nothing. He had no flashbacks, no nostalgia, and more importantly, no part memories.

Dante closed his eyes as he brought himself up. "What exactly was our relationship?" he muttered, taking one last look at her sleeping form. He turned away and ran his hand through his black hair, clearing away his bangs, but only to have the fall over his eyes again. He sighed tiredly, but a little bit out of disappointment as well. Although he was confused about his past memories, it didn't mean he wanted to forget about them completely.

As he went for the door, he brushed past the vanity in Alice's room. Something got knocked over and he heard a soft thunk on the floor from a falling object. He knelt down and picked up the object and although it was dark, he could see a few pink flowers encrusted with jewels on a hair clip.

He held it in the palm of his hand and for some reason, he didn't put it back. Instead, he kept it in his hand and stared at it. His eyes widened as he realized how familiar the hair clip looked.

_"Can you...close your eyes?" _

He could see her face vividly and he could even feel the soft kiss upon his forehead.

_"That was for the hair clip...okay?" _

She was blushing and looking very embarrassed as she looked up at him. Her mouth moved again, but he could barely make out what she was saying. Then suddenly he heard from his own voice...

_"Thank you." _

Dante dropped the pin from his hand as he trembled. He held his forehead as he saw the scene in his head. It all seemed so vivid and clear, but for some reason, it was still very hazy to him. Had this really happened? Did it really happen?

_"Really? Promise?" _

_"I'll never leave you alone, Alice...I promise."_

The black haired man continued to star blankly ahead as he uttered one single word.

"Pro...mise..."

Dante blinked, snapping out of his trance and looked back down at the hair clip. As he picked it back up, he let out a harsh breath as if it hurt to pick it up. He looked back over at Alice and then back down at the clip. "Did I make a promise to you?" he asked, clenching his teeth. He was frustrated. He was frustrated at his memory loss, but he was really most frustrated with himself. He wanted to remember. He wanted it more than anything now.

"How? How did it become like this?" he whispered harshly as he wrapped his fingers around the hair clip. "How did I manage to forget everything?"

Suddenly, he could hear screaming; his own screams, ringing through his head.

* * *

><p><em>Dante laid limply on the ground, panting heavily with his face contorted in pain and now agony. <em>

_"Why isn't it working?" he could hear Krylin hiss in frustration. "Forget it, I'll try it again tomorrow. Take him back to his cell." _

_He felt two pairs of hands grab at either one of his arms and pulled up to his feet. Vaguely he could hear them throw vulgarities at him and roughly hit him in the stomach, but it didn't matter. His body was too numb to feel anything now. _

_Dante felt them throwing him into his cell and he could feel the dirt and grime getting into the fresh cuts he had all over his body, but that too, didn't matter. _

_With a weakened gaze, Dante blankly laid there on the cold ground. His whole body ached. _

_'I can't move...' _

_For once in his life, he felt broken. For once, he felt completely helpless. _

_'Why can't I move?' _

_Dante suddenly saw his vision blurring up and he didn't know why. It wasn't until he felt a tear leak from his eye and fall from his face did he realize that he was crying. _

_'It hurts.' _

* * *

><p>Sean jumped at the sound of running. He came out of the kitchen, in the middle of packing Dante some cookies to take, and exclaimed when the black haired man ran past him.<p>

"Dante! Is everything okay? Your cookies..." he trailed off when Dante simply left the house without saying a word.

Outside, Dante ran a few feet before he came to a large oak tree. He leaned down and trembled as he held a hand over his mouth. Before he could control himself, Dante threw up. He retched loudly and shivered afterwards. He had dark circles underneath his eyes, indicating that he was tired and in an ill condition. Dante panted heavily and gagged.

It sickened him. The memories of him trapped and tortured, haunted him. The smell of his burnt flesh, the horrid smell of the candles at the soul transfer ritual, he hated it all.

Dante let out the final coughs and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He stayed there in the knelt position for what seemed like hours. He didn't know whether he would throw up again or if he'd be plagued by his unwanted memories.

"Had too much to drink?"

He turned around and saw a black haired woman making her way towards him. She had on flowing, beautiful robes and a red Evil Wings staff and he assumed she was a mage.

"M-Maybe..." he muttered.

When she got closed, he saw the bandages wrapped around her eyes. She smiled down at him and knelt down beside him. "Here." She pulled out a white handkerchief from her sleeve and held it out to him.

"Thank you."

He glanced at her suspiciously, wondering why she was out at such a late hour. Then, as if she noticed this, she smiled and answered, "I'm on night watch duty. I was just making my nightly rounds when I heard you."

"I-I see..."

"My name is Lia Kaji, platoon leader for the Aegis." She held out her hand and Dante took it gently.

"Dante Kyudo," he introduced himself.

"Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you." Lia let out a soft laugh, giving his hand a little squeeze before letting go. "I understand you were the platoon leader for my martyr, Alice?"

"Yes."

"You must have been very kind to her. She still thinks about you, even though she doesn't really say it."

"I see."

Lia smiled as she gently patted Dante on the back. "Do you still feel sick?"

"N-No. Not so much as earlier." Dante felt strangely soothed when Lia rubbed her hand in circles over his back.

"That's good. If you still feel sick, you can always come by my room in the barracks. I have a lot of medicinal herbs that I grow."

"I'll keep that in mind." He saw her smile at him again. It was a kind smile that made him lower his guard completely with her, despite the fact that he had just met her. "Thank you again."

"No problem. You can keep the handkerchief. It's helpful to have one around, don't you think?"

Dante chuckled softly and held it in his hand. "I guess you're right."

* * *

><p>Krylin clutched at her chest and gagged. Her short purple hair fell over her face as she bent over, trying to catch her breath.<p>

"Your Majesty," Isabelle asked worriedly, coming up to Krylin's side. "Please. If only you could take my body, I would gladly offer it to you."

"No..." The necromancer breathed heavily as she fought to stay on her feet. "I'll just have to ask another soldier of mine to give him their body for the sake of me. However, I'll have to select another one that's close to dying. They're the only ones that I can depend on until I retrieve Dante again."

"Shall I go get him for you?" the blond gunslinger asked, helping Krylin stay on her feet.

"No...force will not work. Not when he's in that tight Aegis circle right now. There's no doubt that Athena is keeping a close eye on him." Krylin clenched her teeth and slammed her fist down on the armrest of her throne. "I can't believe that, that bitch had the power to cast Hero's Will! If it wasn't for that...-!"

Krylin gagged loudly and coughed up a considerable amount of blood onto the dark marble floors.

"Your Majesty!" Isabelle cried out, holding Krylin up.

Coolly, Krylin wiped away the excess blood from her lips and smirked. "I will get Dante back. He's really the only suitable candidate for my soul."

"Then shall I-?"

"You've worked beautifully, my dear," Krylin cooed, bringing Isabelle's chin up so that she was looking up at her. "But, I'm afraid I'll have to bring in some new help for this situation."

"And what situation would that be?"

Krylin waved her hand out towards the large dark doors of her throne room. "You may come in," she called out.

The doors opened up slowly, creaking as they did so. The air was ominous as Isabelle saw the woman coming in through the door way. "Who...?"

The mysterious woman stepped out from the shadows of the throne room and into the soft light. She had waist length blue hair and a sly grin on her face. Her arms were crossed over her voluptuous chest as her sapphire blue eyes flashed mischievously.

The necromancer smiled as she stood up straight, without Isabelle's help. "Isabelle, please say hello to Mary...Dante's new martyr."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Oh my...thanks so much for all of the reviews that were left! I really enjoyed reading each and every one of them and it was nice to see some new names pop up as well as the frequent ones! _

_So, as promised, here's another chapter that has been released early due to the motivational reviews! Many things were revealed in this chapter and hopefully I didn't throw too many things at you guys at once. I tried to chop this chapter up into two chapters, but I wasn't exactly sure of where to cut it in half. _

_In any case, please leave more reviews! I love reading your feedback and what you think so far! The story is nearing the plot that I intended for it and I assure you, the updates will get faster with the continued support of you guys! _


	12. Silent Crusade

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 12 - Silent Crusade**

"AHHH!"

Dante's eyes shot open and he immediately got up from his bed. He heard what sounded like a feminine scream coming from the room next to his, specifically, Cedric's. Thinking that his friend was in danger, he jumped out of his bed and ran out of his room.

"Cedric! What's wrong?" he shouted, pounding on the door to his friend's room.

"Pervert! Lecher! Get away from me!" he heard from the other side of door.

Seeing as how the door was locked, Dante jiggled the doorknob a few times before leaning in with his shoulder and ramming through. The door burst open and Dante shouted in a slight panic, "Cedric! What's wrong-?" His voice immediately dropped and faded away at the sight in front of him.

Cedric was on the floor, naked, but keeping himself decent with one half of his bed sheet. The other half was held by Ada, who was also naked, but fully intent on covering herself up. She was screaming obscenities at him as her face reddened with embarrassment and anger.

"A-Ada...calm down. I really don't know what happened-!"

"Yes you do! Why am I in your room?"

Dante watched as Ada began picking things up from the nightstand and throwing them at his friend. It seemed as though neither of them had noticed him coming in, despite the fact that he nearly broke down the door.

The black haired man sighed and muttered, "I told you both of you were drinking too much last night..."

Ada stopped, hearing him, and clenched her fists even more. "So that was your plan!" she shouted at Cedric, who was cowering on the floor from her barrage. "You only invited me and Alice to the tavern just so, it could end up like this!"

"That wasn't my intention! I can't even remember what happened last night!" Then Cedric whispered, in a disappointed tone under his breath, "although I would have really liked to remember..."

Picking this up with her sharp ears, Ada angrily continued to throw more things at the bandit. "Shut up, you pervert! That isn't the problem right now!"

Dante excused himself from the room, not that either of them cared or bothered to notice his departure. He scratched the back of his head and let out a soft yawn as he went back into his room. He rolled his red eyes when he heard Ada yelling something again, which was then followed by his friend's sharp yelp.

"It's too damn early for this..." he grumbled, going back to his bed.

* * *

><p>Minna widened her wine red eyes at the guild master. "Eh? Athena wants us to go to Edelstein? Why there?"<p>

Robeira bowed her head, hiding her already hidden face even more underneath the green hood of her robes. "It seems as though there are a few rebels, those that are against Krylin's reign in power, are still hidden away in Victoria Island and Edelstein."

"Members of the Aegis?" Ivan questioned, sitting back in his seat.

"Not exactly." The seasoned mage pursed her red lips and pulled out a scroll from underneath the small table. She laid it out and unraveled it before them. It was an old, but still usable map of Victoria Island and the surrounding areas. She pointed to the isolated continent of Edelstein and stated, "They are isolationists. We don't know much about them, but we do know they are strong. Strong enough to withstand and still survive within Krylin's power. Edelstein is where their main base is thought to be located."

"But..." Minna started, unsure about this whole thing. "This seems like a daunting task. Isn't it best to be left to one of the platoon leaders or reconnaissance members instead of us?"

"Athena specifically asked for you two. But don't worry. You'll be accompanied by Xin. He's been briefed of this quest for the last few weeks now. He'll know what to do and direct you two."

"Should we be careful of these isolationists?" Ivan asked suspiciously. "You're making it sound as if they are a threat to us."

"Not so much as Krylin's spies, but yes, you should be wary of them. They don't take too kindly to members or former members of the Aegis. You could say they gave up hope on us and they're taking matters into their own hands."

Minna looked down worried at the map for a moment. She then turned over to Ivan, who looked back at her. They silently came to a mutual agreement.

"We'll go," answered Minna, confidently.

Robeira smiled from underneath her hood and rolled up the map. "That's a good answer. Don't worry. I know you'll both do well on this quest. Especially you Minna. I've trained you well over the past few years. You're one my best students."

Minna blushed bashfully at the compliment and modestly replied, "we-well...I can't take all of the credit."

"Modest as always, Minna." Robeira chuckled softly and tucked the rolled up map under her arm. "You two should pack up and start to make your way back up to Orbis to meet Xin. Your quest will have officially begun once Xin gives you the rest of the details."

* * *

><p><em>"Do you want to help him?" <em>

_Alice stared up at the small golden apple that was struggling to stay attached to the tree. She brought a hand up and slowly reached up for it. "I do..." _

_Eternus stood behind the warrior as she tried to reach up for it. _

_"Be careful." _

* * *

><p>Alice squinted at the bright sunlight coming into her room from a small window. Groggily, she sat up from her bed and shielded her eyes with her hand.<p>

What was that dream?

It confused her greatly. It was the same recurring dream that she had been having for the past few days. It was strange, but then again, she couldn't remember the last time she had a dream that wasn't odd.

Alice heard her bedroom door open up slightly. She looked towards it and saw her pet husky happily run in. It hopped onto her bed and constantly bumped its head into her arm. "Hey Dante," she said, laughing as she petted him on the head.

The husky barked and immediately she heard Sean's voice from down the hall.

"Oh Dante? Is Alice finally up?"

Sean curiously poked his head into the room and smiled when he saw his awoken sister. "Finally. I thought you'd be asleep for the whole day!" He walked into the room and up to her bed. "I made a sandwich for you, since you slept through breakfast. It's on the kitchen counter."

The husky that was now on Alice's lap, barked as it wagged its tail.

"No, Dante. It's not for you," Sean said in a scolding tone.

Dante whined and then lowered his head sadly. Alice giggled at this and pet the husky on its soft head. "Thanks Sean. Oh...do you know how I got back to the house? I only remember falling asleep at the tavern."

"Dante brought you in last night. I was really surprised to see him!" Sean exclaimed, smiling. He felt genuinely happy knowing that his sister had been acting distant for the past few years since the archer's supposed "death." However, his smile faded a little and was replaced with a look of confusion. "But, afterwards, he just left in a hurry. It surprised me."

"Eh?"

"I didn't get a good look, but he looked sick. I didn't even get a chance to give him my cookies!"

Alice bowed her head slightly in thought. Finally, she got out from her bed. "I'll go take them to him."

"Huh? Are you sure?" Sean asked, following his sister around her room as she changed out of the clothes that she wore last night.

"Yeah," Alice smiled at her little brother as she slipped on a pair of dark brown khaki shorts. She didn't tell Sean this, but the real reason why she was going to visit Dante was out of worry. As soon as Sean told her about Dante's abrupt visit last night, she instantly felt worried about his well-being.

"Well...the cookies are on the kitchen counter."

"Great, thanks!"

The blue haired girl ran out of her room and grabbed the package of cookies before heading out the door. As she ran through the streets, she hastily brushed her fingers through her long, slightly waved hair. She hadn't washed since yesterday and she immediately regretted it, but she was already halfway toward the barracks and she really wanted to make sure that Dante was okay.

Arriving out of breath in front of the main building of the barracks, Alice rested her hands on her knees and took the time to recover.

A few soldiers came out and passed her, giving her odd looks. Alice noticed this and quickly straightened herself up. Slightly embarrassed, she cleared her throat and headed inside.

The first room she encountered seemed to be like a large recreational room which couches, chairs, and tables where she saw several Aegis soldiers languidly talking or playing a simple table game of cards. It wasn't that crowded, but it was busy.

Alice saw a sort of receptionist at the front desk and she walked up to the old man that ran it.

"Uhm, excuse me?" she asked in a soft voice. "Could you tell me where Dante Kyudo's room is? I have something for him." Alice held up the bag of cookies for the old receptionist to see.

"Hmm." The old man furrowed his brow, causing his gray, caterpillar-like eyebrows to gather together. He hopped off his seat and Alice was surprised at how short he was as he walked over to the room shart that hung on the wall behind him.

"Dante Kyudo, you said?" he asked, his voice raspy and shakey.

"Yes."

"Ehhh...room 503."

"Thank you."

Alice curiously walked up the steps and saw that the rooms were numbered based on the floor they were on. "So...then the fifth floor?" she muttered to herself as she continued up the flight of stairs. When she finally did get up to the fifth floor, she slowly walked down the hall and spotted Dante's room.

The whole floor was quiet as she silently went up to his door and knocked on it hesitantly. "Ehm...Dante? Are you in there? It's Alice. I brought you someth-" She stopped when the door next to Dante's room, opened up.

Cedric poked his head out and exclaimed, "Alice! Just who I wanted to see!"

"Eh?"

"I was just about to come visit you!" the bandit said as he tightened the black Pilfer bandanna around his head. "You haven't seen Ada on your way here?"

"No. I haven't seen her since last night. Why? Did something happen to her?"

"Eh...well...you could say that." Cedric chuckled sheepishly. "Know anywhere, where I could find her?"

"You could try the training fields...but I'm not sure since-"

"Great! Thanks!" Cedric quickly rushed off down the hall, waving back at Alice. "Oh! If you're looking for Dante, he should be on the roof!"

"The roof?" Before Alice could question him, Cedric had already run down the stairs and disappeared from sight. The blue haired girl sighed and decided to walk back up the stairs again

She didn't know how many flights of stairs she climbed, but she knew she was exhausted and sweaty by the time she reached the top. There was only one way out and only one door. Alice slowly pushed open the door and let out a loud sigh of relief at the cool air that met her. She stepped out onto the roof and heard the loose rocks and tiles crunching underneath her shoes.

Alice raised an eyebrow when she saw no one around. "Did he leave?"

She walked around the rooftop and eventually spotted him sitting against one of the chimneys. As she walked closer, she noticed that he was in fact, fast asleep.

"Dante?" She cautiously walked up to him, trying not to startle him.

Alice knelt down beside him and stared at his sleeping expression. He looked peaceful when at rest and perhaps even slightly adorable, even though it embarrassed Alice to admit that to herself. She looked down at his exposed torso that was only minimally covered by his crossed arms and by the black, sleeveless open vest he was wearing. His whole outfit, including the ripped pants and brown sandals looked much too laid back for someone like Dante and Alice giggled at the fact that he probably borrowed these clothes from Cedric.

Her eyes finally fell upon an irregularly shaped scar that was just below his chest, but above his stomach. She curiously reached down and touched the scar.

It looked like a stab wound.

Immediately, Alice froze up at the sudden realization that this was where Dante got stabbed by Fleischer. Her lips gently parted as she tried to form words for the thoughts that were racing through her head.

_"It's your fault I died._ _Why did you let me die, Alice? Why...-?"_

"What are you doing?"

Caught up in her own self-absorption, Alice snapped back to reality and saw that Dante was looking up at her suspiciously.

Alice immediately took her hands off his body. "Eh? W-Well...you see...-" she nervously stammered as she tried to come up with a decent response.

"So...my past martyr was a weird girl that's clumsy and one that sexually harassed me." Dante said as he sat up.

"I did nothing like that!" Alice adamantly protested, standing up. She blushed heavily and yelled, "and I'm not sexually harassing you right now!"

"Then what do you call touching a man's body while he's sleeping and him being completely unaware that he's being touched?"

"I didn't touch you in a sexual way!" Alice, completely embarrassed out of her mind, huffed and threw the bag of cookies into Dante's lap. "Here! Sean wanted to give these cookies to you last night!"

Dante stared curiously at the small white paper bag in his lap and looked back up at Alice, who kept her head turned away. "Cookies?" he asked curiously, opening up the bag. He peeked in and saw that there were seven chocolate chip cookies at the bottom. "Tell him thanks."

"Fine-"

"And...uh...thanks to you too I guess. For bringing them all the way here."

Alice pursed her lips, trying to hold down a blush, but failed miserably as she shyly tucked a piece of blue hair behind her ears and flashed him a little nervous smile.

At that moment when Dante saw her face, just briefly, he felt a strange feeling lurch inside of him. A small part of him actually found her to be...dare he say, _cute_, but another part of him scolded himself for even thinking about that. A small realization hit him at this moment. Perhaps he got these feelings around her because she was something...more to him than just a martyr.

"I'll be going now-"

"...Wait!"

Almost as if it was instinctive, Dante grabbed her hand, stopping her from leaving. They stared at each other for a while before Dante awkwardly broke the silence by mumbling out, "erm...I can't eat all of these..."

"Eh?"

Dante silently cursed himself under his breath. Why, oh why, did he tell her to stop? Why did he even grab her hand?

"I can't eat all of these," he repeatedly, staring directly into her blue eyes. Dante hoped that he wouldn't have to say anything else and that she would understand what he meant. But of course, she didn't.

"Th-Then...you could share some with Cedric-"

"He doesn't like sweets."

Alice blushed when she finally realized his insistent behavior. Her body trembled just slightly as she nervously knelt down beside him. "I...I guess I could eat some then." She saw Dante pulled out a cookie and hand it to her, which she took hesitantly.

"I thought you said we were close."

"Eh?"

"You're acting like you're so nervous around me."

Dante watched as she didn't say anything as she dropped her head and silently nibbled on the cookie. He sighed heavily and crossed his legs over one another. "I was just kidding about the sexual harassment thing, you know. I just wanted to see your reaction."

"Huh?"

"So...you don't need for feel awkward around me or anything..."

Alice bit down on the cookie and mumbled, "I'm not nervous because of something like that..."

"Then what?"

The blue haired girl looked up and saw Dante staring at her, as if he was anxious to know what she was about to say next. Alice desperately wanted to tell him about the real reason why she was nervous around him. Not only did she care about him, but she found herself starting to fall in love with him all over again. The feelings she had suppressed over the years since his disappearance were beginning to resurface.

"Why are you so interested?" Alice muttered, looking away. "You acted like you didn't want anything to do with me just a few days ago."

Dante reeled back at her question. It was true. Just a few days ago when he did wake up and he first laid eyes on her, he didn't want to get to know her. He didn't care if she was his past martyr and he certainly was in denial over the past few years that he had no recollection of at all. Then, suddenly, he thought about the pink flower clip that he saw in her room last night.

"I don't think it's healthy for me to completely forget about what happened. I want to know why I forgot about everything. There must be a reason." He turned to her and asked, "you remember everything between us, don't you?"

"Y-Yes."

"Then tell me. Everything...everything you can think of and don't leave a single thing out."

"Dante..."

"Something happened to me that made me forget. Please..." he said in a hushed, gentler tone.

Alice felt the need to tell him everything. She wanted to do anything in order to get the Dante she knew, back. But, she considered the consequences of this option.

_"I don't want you to get hurt." _

"We..." she started out slowly, "were just martyr...and a platoon leader. Nothing else."

"Nothing else..." Dante repeated softly. He found himself getting slightly disappointed. Then were his feelings earlier, nothing more than just a fluke? He had thought that Alice was his connection to his past memories, but was he wrong?

Alice cleared her throat and stood up. "Sorry, I should probably go now-"

"Wait."

Dante stood up as well and looked down at her. His red eyes narrowed at her and he whispered, "if you're lying to me."

The warrior backed away, slowly, only to have her back meet the white brick chimney. "I...I'm not!" She suddenly felt fearful when he cornered her and stared down at her with his red eyes.

"If we really were just martyr and platoon leader, why are you acting like this?"

"A-Acting?"

"You're holding something back."

"I'm not! I-!" Alice froze and gasped when she felt him forcefully bring her head up by her chin. Her blue eyes trembled when she was forced to look into his piercing gaze.

"Liars always avoid eye contact," he muttered. Slowly, he brought his hands down and took either of her wrists. He pinned them against the chimney and whispered lowly. "If you're not willing to tell me, maybe I'll just remind myself."

Alice let out a soft sound in surprise when she felt him lean down and kiss her neck. At first, she struggled against him, but she stopped when he continued to dot kisses on her skin. Alice felt reminded of her feelings towards him. All of the ways he made her smile, the ways he made her cry, the ways he made her yell, she could remember them all and she found that she couldn't simply suppress those feelings like she had been trying to for the past years.

As Dante placed another gentle kiss on her neck, he heard her soft crying. Surprised, he pulled away and looked at her. "Alice...?"

Tears were flowing out of her eyes in almost endless streams. She didn't look at him, but instead kept her head turned away.

_"That's right...what was I thinking? I can't try to forget something that's happened."_

"Hey!" Dante called out for her as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Alice? I'm sorry! I-"

Alice slowly moved her eyes to look up at him. She couldn't hear anything he was saying.

_"No matter what I do...I can never forget about what happened. You're lucky Dante...you forgot everything about us." _

She slowly placed her hands on his chest and switched their positions so that he was the one against the chimney. Alice looked up at him painfully as he stared down at her confused.

_"I wish I can forget too Dante." _

"Alice...-" Dante stopped when he felt her lips on top of his.

All the while, Alice kept him pinned against the chimney as she gradually deepened the kiss. She continued to cry silently and Dante could feel her tears dropping down onto his chest. Although the past kisses with him were always pleasurable, this one was painful. It hurt her deeply as she continued to press her lips against his.

_"I want to forget about us like you did...because it hurts to remember how much I loved you."_

* * *

><p>"Xin! There you are!"<p>

Minna happily ran up to the crusader, who welcomed both her and Ivan with a boyish grin.

"Hey, nice to see you two, too!"

The cleric giggled as she spread out her arms, taking in the warm Orbis sun. "Ah! It feels so nice! Really warm, isn't it Ivan?"

Ivan simply nodded as Minna twirled around happily in front of him, drinking up the sunlight. He then faced Xin and asked, "so, what are the additional details to the quest?"

"I'm guessing you've both been informed that there's isolationist groups in Victoria Island and Edelstein?"

"Yeah. Who exactly are they?" asked Ivan.

"Well...they're more like rebels against Krylin and you'd think that they would like the Aegis, but they're very hostile to us as well. They're mainly in small, unnamed groups, but there's a pretty sizable group of elites. They call themselves the "Silent Crusade." Word has gotten around that they're based somewhere in Edelstein, but no one other than their most trusted members can get inside, much less know the location."

"And what are we supposed to do?" Minna questioned.

"Athena wants us to create an alliance with them. She knows how powerful they are and she says that it may be the reason why Krylin isn't moving on to conquer Ossyria as quickly, because they're keeping her troops occupied over on Victoria Island."

"I thought they hated us," Ivan bluntly said, causing Xin to elicit a sheepish chuckle.

"Well, we can always make them change their minds."

Minna skeptically raised an eyebrow, but she decided to go along with it. "If Miss Athena requests that we do...I guess we'll have to."

"Actually, Miss Athena asked for you in specific, Minna."

"Me?"

Xin nodded and smiled at her. "She said that you're quite persuasive and could make quite the diplomat."

"Really?" she asked with wide eyes. Minna giggled happily at how she was acknowledged. "I never knew I had such a way with words. Did you know that, Ivan?"

The blond pirate recollected on how she would always come and talk to him while he was imprisoned and how he fell for her words.

When Minna saw Ivan simply turning away, she giggled again and assumed that he was embarrassed. She turned back to Xin, with a new inquiry. "But...how exactly are we going to get to Edelstein? There aren't anymore boats that make a trip between Ossyria and Victoria Island."

"Ah! I almost forgot!" the black haired crusader exclaimed, fishing around in his bag. He immediately pulled out a teal and brown colored rock. It emitted a slight glow, but not so much that it was noticeable right away. "Grendel managed to create this just for our quest!"

"What...is it?" Minna asked curiously.

"A teleport rock. It'll take us to any location we say, even between the continents."

"Wow," she said in awe and wonder.

"We need to be careful with these. We're walking into enemy territory, right into the heart of Krylin's power. I only have two, one for going there and one for coming back. In the case that we need to abort the quest, we only have one chance to come back safely.

"You can't get more?" Ivan asked, only to be immediately answered by Minna.

"Teleportation requires really powerful magic, Ivan! Especially one that's made to teleport someone over such a distance like here to Victoria Island! Grendel is a really powerful wizard, but even he has his limits."

Ivan, pouting his lips a little at the realization of how ignorant his question was, crossed his arms over his chest. "Then...are we leaving right now?"

"Mhm, get around close," Xin said, ushering Minna and Ivan to gather around the teleportation rock. Once they were all in a tight circle, Xin held the rock out in his hands and said in a clear voice, "Edelstein!"

Right away, the teleportation rock emitted a teal colored glow which gradually grew larger and brighter. Eventually it engulfed the three of them and they had to close their eyes in order to protect them from the harsh light.

Once the bright light disappeared, Minna hesitantly reopened her eyes. In stark contrast to the bright and cheerful atmosphere of Orbis, it was pitch black and cold. "Is this...Edelstein?" she asked, looking around. She moved her feet and heard the hard wood soles of her jeweled sandals making contact with steel. Confused about where she was, Minna began to panic. "Ivan? Xin? Where are you?"

"Minna?"

The cleric turned around and breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw Ivan walking up to her. Quickly she ran up to him and stood close. "Where are we?"

"I have no idea..." Ivan muttered, looking around the huge arched tunnel where they seemed to be trapped in. "But I know for sure that this isn't Edelstein."

"If this isn't Edelstein...then-"

The both of them froze and averted their attention further down the tunnel where they heard a series of gunshots.

"That might be Xin!" Minna exclaimed.

"Let's go," the pirate said, taking Minna's hand and running with her towards the mysterious gunshots.

They both ran down the dark, cold tunnel until they finally came across a woman that had fallen on the steel ground. She was holding her ankle as if she were in pain and immediately, Minna ran towards her before Ivan could stop her.

"Are you okay?"

The woman raised her head and glared at Minna with her red eyes. "Stay back!" she shouted, immediately pointing a gun up at the cleric.

Minna faltered and stopped in her tracks. "I just want to help you! I'm a cleric! I can heal your wound-!"

"How do I know you're not with Krylin, huh?"

Ivan stepped forward and pulled out his own gun, pointing it at the blond woman. "You're welcome to fight me with that injured leg of yours."

"Heh, who said anything about injured-?" As she moved to stand up, she immediately fell back down in pain. She grabbed at her ankle and grit her teeth.

"Please! I assure you that we aren't with Krylin! We're with the Aegis!"

The woman froze up. "The Aegis?" She didn't react when Minna rushed up to heal her. "What are members of the Aegis doing all the way here in Victoria Island? Didn't you all retreat to Ossyria three years ago?"

Ivan lowered his gun, seeing as how this woman wasn't a threat. "Are you with the rebels?" he questioned straightforwardly.

"We _are_ the rebels."

"We?" Minna asked curiously, only to be answered by another series of gunshots in the distance.

The blond woman turned around in a panic and shouted, "I need to go help my partner!"

"Your ankle is still in a bad condition!"

Ivan walked past them and asked, "your partner's down this tunnel?"

"Yeah. We were both fighting a bunch of Krylin's spies down here. There's a lot of them in Kerning City."

"I'll go." Ivan turned around to face Minna. "Stay with her."

The cleric nodded and continued to heal the woman's ankle as Ivan ran further down into the tunnel. As Minna amplified her healing magic, she asked the blond woman, "you wouldn't happen to know the Silent Crusade, would you?"

"What of it?"

"We've been assigned to look for them by Athena Pierce."

"Oh?" The woman smiled, almost in a cocky fashion, and pointed to herself. "You're looking at one of them."

"Huh?"

"My name's Starling, a member of the Silent Crusade rebel group." Then, Starling quirked her eyebrow up as she stared down into the tunnel where Ivan ran off into. "Hope your partner knows what he's doing."

When Minna tilted her head in confusion on what the gunslinger said, Starling answered her in a cautionary voice, "I know it sees like I'm tolerant of you guys, but my partner, Crow, he's definitely a piece of work."

"Wh-Why?"

"He hates members of the Aegis with a deep passion. Your partner better not reveal that you two are from the Aegis or else Crow won't hesitate to kill you."

* * *

><p>Ivan stopped abruptly when a sharp steely flew just past his head. He dodged it with a simple sidestep and he continued on running. His sharp green eyes managed to make out a shadowy figure leaping around on the ceiling of the tunnel ahead.<p>

He raised his gun and fired off two quick shots. The figure let out a grunt and fell to the ground, dead.

The pirate stepped over the fallen body, not taking the time to look back to make sure he was dead. He finally got to a more wider tunnel and he stopped at the mouth of it. Panting lightly, Ivan looked around.

There was no one around. By no one, he meant no one that was actually alive.

He walked through what seemed like dozens of dead bodies, all freshly killed, indicated by the warm pools of blood still beneath them. Ivan recognized them to be Krylin's troops.

Then, suddenly without warning, he felt the cold barrel of a gun being pressed against the back of his head, just below his brown tricorne hat. Ivan reacted just as the gunshot went off. The blast of gunpowder and smoke grazed his cheek as he bent down and delivered a sweeping kick to his attacker's feet.

The man that had attacked him dodged it with a jump. He then kicked off of Ivan's chest as the pirate stood up.

Ivan was surprised at how agile this man was as he watched him land a few feet away.

Slowly, the black haired man got up and pointed his gun at Ivan. His blue eyes glared at the pirate as he asked in a rough voice, "who are you?"

Ivan didn't answer him and instead readied himself for a fight.

Seeing this, the man tugged at the red scarf he wore, loosening it up. "If that's how you want to play it." He bent his knees a little before jumping up into the air. Aiming the gun he carried directly down at Ivan, he said in a stern and clear voice, "you will die here."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_YESSSS. I know that the Silent Crusade story line has been done to death on this site, but I will only be using them as plot devices. I won't be introducing romance with Crow or Starling to any of my OCs and they are only there for the purpose of the Silent Crusade rebel group. _

_Someone mentioned if Kyrin will be making an appearance in this story and the answer to that is a definite yes. She will be appearing more in the second half of the story. _

_Also, I haven't forgotten about Xeros. He'll be playing more of a part in the second half of the story as well. _

_I also have to mention, I do not currently play Maple, so I apologize in advance if some of the facts are off from the actual game. I'm only going off what I read on various Maple fansites and some of the information on them are not always accurate. And I'm aware that Nexon changed alot of the skills and some stuff that used to be in Maple that isn't there anymore. Many of the basic stuff I'm going off of, is stuff from what I remember and fondly call "old Maple." Maybe up to the midpoint of the Big Bang update. _

_So, a lot of the new characters like Mercedes, Cannon Shooter, or Phantom won't be in this story. However, I do have something planned in the future after I finish this story._

_As always, thanks much for all the reviews! You guys have been especially generous for the last two chapters. Is it because the story is finally out of its "introductory phase" and going onto the main plot? :]_

_Of course, keeping my word, I will release the next chapter in the next one/two weeks if I receive lots of reviews! _


	13. The New Martyr

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - White Knight_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 13 - The New Martyr**

Alice brought her knees up to her chest and sniffled. Her long blue hair fell over her shoulders as she leaned her head down against her knees. What happened earlier between her and Dante still flashed before her eyes.

* * *

><p><em>She pulled away from him and looked up at his confused expression. Alice kept her hands on his chest for a while longer before she finally stepped away from him. <em>

_"Alice...were we...?" _

_The blue haired girl laughed softly as she hastily wiped away at her tear soaked cheeks. "That was silly of me." She smiled painfully up at him and said, "I'll stop bothering you now. Okay?" As Alice turned to leave, Dante stopped her by grabbing her wrist. _

_"What the hell was that?" _

_She turned around and saw a hurt expression on his face. _

_"You can kiss me like that and just walk away?" Dante tightened the hold around her wrist and asked, "I know I made a promise to you. I remember it. With this...it makes me wonder, were you someone important to me?" _

_Alice remained silent. Finally she whispered softly, "please let me go." _

_"Do you really want to forget about me that badly?" _

_She bit down on her bottom lip and muttered, "I want to forget that I ever loved you." _

_Unable to say anything to her after that kind of unexpected response, Dante slowly loosened his grip and felt her slender hand slip past his fingers. _

_Alice tightly closed her eyes and ran away as fast as she could. The only thing she could hear were the sounds of her own footfalls and the sound of her heart beating away loudly against her chest. She was running away, not only from him, but..._

* * *

><p>The warm sun seemed to grow hotter as Dante sat there on the rooftop by himself. He was sitting down beside the chimney again and looking up at the clear blue skies. Then silently, he brought his hand up to his lips and ran his thumb over them. He could still feel the smooth texture of her lips on his and while it did initially shock him, he remembered the pleasurable tingles that ran through his body as it continued.<p>

He parted his lips just slightly and bit down gently on the blunt edge of his fingernail.

Somehow, the whole kiss seemed nostalgic to him. In fact, everything about Alice made him feel this way.

Dante squeezed his eyes shut and tried to remember anything about her. Just how were they connected before?

_"I don't understand. Why are you here? Are you only here to make my life miserable...?"_

He could barely make out Alice's voice inside of his head. Where has he heard that before? Dante bowed his head, concentrating on this fragmented memory. Slowly, a visual began to form, but it was blurry. He could make out Alice's blurry silhouette as she shook her head at him and stepped away.

_"Just leave me alone." _

The image in his head grew clearer and he saw her crying face. How familiar...

_"Leave me alone! Don't you get it? I never want to see your face ever again! I hate you!"_

He could hear her screaming, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

_"I wish you just died already!" _

Dante could feel a slight pain in his chest at the sound of her words. He watched her running away from him and he desired to go after her, but he stopped himself. No...he couldn't say anything to her at this point.

Suddenly, he had images of blood on his hand. He looked up and saw his friend, Cedric, gasping for air as he clutched at his bloodied stomach. Dante looked back down at his hand again and saw a bloodied Varkit dagger in his hand. Finally he looked back up again and saw Cedric on the ground with a large pool of blood beneath him.

What...?

_"Just realize that no one is coming for you Dante. It looks like your precious little Alice has forgotten about you." _

He heard a woman giggle as she bent down to gently touch his face. He was lying down on the cold floor, looking up at her with listless eyes.

_"How long has it been now? Two years?"_

She reached down to touch him again and inside his mind, he was shouting at her not to. _"No...no!"_

"Dante?"

The black haired archer's eyes shot open and he immediately grabbed at the hand that reached out to him. Dante panted heavily as he looked up, only to see Cedric staring down at him worriedly. "Wha-?"

"Are you okay?" The bandit knelt down beside Dante and touched his bare shoulder. "You're sweating a lot and your body's cold. Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

Dante blinked, realizing that he wasn't in that cold, dark cell he kept remembering. He was back on the rooftop where he must have dozed off. Quickly, he let go of Cedric's arm and buried his face in his hand. "Uh..." he sighed tiredly, "n-no. I just..." Dante shook his head and slowly got up to his feet. "Forget it. I think I just need to go rest in my room. See ya-"

"Hang on!"

Cedric did a sort of pounce onto Dante's back as he grinned widely. "You know what you need right now?"

"Sleep?" Dante grumbled, not liking the way his friend was grinning at him. Cedric _always_ did a goofy looking grin whenever he had something stupid planned for the two of them.

"No! What you need is a relaxation in the mineral springs!"

"Huh?"

"Come on! It was so nice of Athena to authorize something like this in the barracks!"

Before Dante could ask what this was about or even stop his friend, Cedric grabbed his wrist and ran forth, dragging the archer along behind him.

* * *

><p>Dozens of bullets were ricocheting around them, bouncing off the steel surroundings.<p>

Both gunslingers dished out their attacks endlessly at each other, without restraint. At the same time, they both expertly dodged the attacks flawlessly...or so they thought.

Ivan stopped his attacks at the same time that Crow did. They glared at each other as they caught their breath. At this time, Ivan saw that one of his bullets had injured the other man in the shoulder, nearly rendering him useless to shoot his gun. He thought his victory would be close, but he then felt a sharp pain in his leg.

Falling to his knees, Ivan held his hand over his thigh and saw blood coating his palm.

"You can barely stand up, but I can still pull the trigger with my other hand," Crow said as he switched his gun over to his left hand.

Ivan got up to his feet and said, "I still have one good leg." He stood so that most of his weight was on his uninjured leg. "But I wonder if your shots will still be accurate and precise with your left hand."

The black haired gunslinger smirked at Ivan's response, slightly amused with how strong his opponent was. "Still won't say who you are?"

"I think you'll still attack me regardless of who I say I am."

"Hm, smart guy."

Ivan noticed him loading in a flamethrower bullet. In response, he dug into the brown pouch around his waist and pulled out an ice bullet. He loaded it into his gun, but as he did so, Crow already started his attack on the blond pirate.

He rolled out of the way of Crow's large flamethrower, but just barely. Ivan gently touched his brown overcoat and he could still feel the heat radiating from them. He didn't have much time to rest as flames shot out towards him again.

The areas where the flames had hit, left the steel ground red hot.

"Are you just going to run?" Crow asked, shooting off a barrage of fire.

Ivan could feel the air around him growing hotter as the flames licked the walls and floor. He shot out a burst of ice at the other gunslinger, but it was quickly overcome by the hot flames of Crow's gun.

"Don't you know that fire melts ice?"

The blond pirate dodged another torrent of flames. He quickly jumped up high above Crow and aimed a burst of ice straight down at the black haired man.

However, Crow was fast and shot off a rush of flames up at Ivan, melting away the ice shot and just barely missing Ivan again. The flames heated the steel ceiling of the tunnel until it turned red.

At this exact moment, Ivan aimed his gun directly at the hot spot and shot off a large burst of ice. It cooled down the metal immediately and it steamed as Ivan ejected the ice bullet from his gun. As he landed on the ground, Ivan shot off three shots at the weakened steel ceiling and the steel plates cracked and splintered.

The ceiling then came collapsing down on Crow, who managed to roll out of the way in time, but didn't realize that the debris had trapped him by pinning down the edges of his coat tightly to the ground.

Using this opening, Ivan ran and delivered a quick kick to Crow's head.

The force of the kick managed to rip the gunslinger's coat and free him from the rubble, but by now he was trapped by Ivan and his barrage of physical blows.

Crow grunted as he fell to the ground after Ivan's last hit. He glared at the pirate and angrily spat out the blood in his mouth on the ground. He couldn't believe that he was being kicked around by a nameless opponent. It had been so long since he faced an opponent as strong as Ivan.

"Why did you attack me?" Ivan asked, pointing his gun down at Crow.

"Anyone not with the Silent Crusade is an enemy! Especially the Aegis!"

"On what grounds?"

"Do I even need to say it?" Crow asked incredulously, chuckling in a tone as if he were mocking Ivan. "The Aegis are nothing, but a bunch of weaklings that turned their backs on us when we needed them most! They ran away from Krylin when they needed to fight her!"

"We did fight her," whispered Ivan, dangerously under his breath. He could still remember how Krylin took away his regeneration abilities that day by gouging out his right eye. He could still remember the way Minna cried for him as lay there in her arms.

"What? We? Don't tell me, you're with the Aegis." Crow scoffed and then let out a laugh. "A weakling like you, I should have expected it."

Ivan glared at the black haired gunslinger and roughly pinned him down to the ground by slamming down his foot on the man's chest. He clicked his gun and said, "this weakling just beat you."

"You think?" Crow chuckled and then suddenly, with lightning fast reflexes, he grabbed the barrel of Ivan's gun and yanked it forward, causing Ivan to lose his balance. However, Ivan made sure that he still kept Crow on the ground.

He fell on top of Crow and wrestled the gun away from him. Seeing as how he was weaker than him in close combat, Ivan tossed the gun a few meters away and decided to rely on his own melee skills.

Just as he turned back down to Crow, he received a punch to the face. Ivan grit his teeth as he felt Crow roll them over so that he was the one on top. Not letting him receive any sort of upper hand, Ivan delivered a punch of his own at the other gunslinger.

This cycle continued until they both heard Minna's angry, scolding voice.

"Ivan! What are you doing?" she shouted.

Both men stopped fighting each other and looked up at the cleric. Starling followed suite, stepping out from behind Minna. "This is just pitiful Crow."

"What?" he snapped at the blonde woman.

"Just get up. You're embarrassing me and the organization."

"Embarrassing?" Crow narrowed his eyes at Starling and got up off of Ivan. He stomped over to his partner and said, "you embarrass yourself! Who the hell gets their ankle hurt so badly that they can't even move?"

"Oh?" Starling said, grinning and annoyance spiking up inside of her. "Want me to break your ankle and see how you'd like it?"

"I'd like to see you try!"

Minna ignored the two squabbling gunslingers and rushed over to Ivan. "Jeez, look at you!" she exclaimed, helping him up and gently touching a fresh cut on his cheek. He winced at her touch because of how tender his injuries still were. "You didn't need to fight him to this extent! He's our ally!"

Ivan felt her removed his coat and start her healing magic on his injuries. He watched the gentle green glow emit from her hands. "He hates the Aegis though," he muttered.

"Then that's his problem!" Minna shouted, startling Ivan because of how angry she sounded.

He stared at her for a while before he asked, "Minna...did I make you mad? Because I don't know why you're being like this."

Minna closed her eyes tightly and whispered, "I just wish you'd show some restraint. You push yourself to limits that you shouldn't push yourself to!"

"I thought you told me that humans didn't have limits. I thought you told me that since I am human, I shouldn't have limits either."

"Then I lied!" she shouted, healing up the last of his bruises. "People don't have limits, but you do!"

Ivan's expression sudden grew distant and annoyed as he muttered under his breath, "are you saying I'm not 'people'?"

The orange haired girl grew silent, realizing the error in her wording. "I...I didn't mean that...in that way..."

Without saying another word, Ivan got up and pulled on his coat even though Minna wasn't done healing him. It was the first time he was feeling such emotions at Minna. He felt angry and annoyed by what she said and he had the sudden need to get away from her.

Minna, still reeling from the fact that Ivan had gotten mad with her, felt a sort of rotten feeling work its way up her throat. She not only felt sullen, but she felt remorse at what she said to him. She only decided to say such things out of worry.

One of her singular fears was of Ivan getting hurt. Ever since he lost his abilities to regenerate wounds and life-threatening injuries, she felt the need to be protective, perhaps even overprotective. But Ivan didn't share this idea with her.

He would always get into the toughest of fights during their quests and on multiple occasions, he would get seriously injured. It seemed to her that Ivan thought he was still an indestructible bioweapon. Always getting into tough fights, overexerting himself, unnecessarily putting himself into harm's way, being reckless...he was doing all of it and Minna would wish that he would stop.

"We have to work with those two?" Minna heard Crow ask to Starling. She turned around and watched the two gunslingers as they shot glances towards her and Ivan.

"Actually there's three of us," Ivan stated as he picked up his discarded gun up off the floor. "But we got separated when we used a teleport rock from Ossyria."

"Separated huh?" Starling cupped her chin and sighed, "mm, not good. You'd better hope that he can take care of himself. Victoria Island's not a safe place anywhere now."

"Especially for the Aegis," said Crow, adding into what his blond partner said. "At least if you're a rebel, you have your allies scattered here and there throughout the cities."

"What exactly is your guys' business here anyways?"

"Athena wanted us to try and convince the Silent Crusade to ally with the Aegis," Minna said hesitantly. She knew that the man called Crow that stood beside Starling wouldn't take too kindly to such a proposal. "I know you hate us, but please give us a chance to speak."

Crow glared at both Ivan and Minna. Afterwards, he simply grunted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"He means 'yes'," Starling said, smiling.

"I never said that."

"Stop being so stubborn. It's going to get you killed someday," she said, nudging him hard in the ribs with her elbow.

He sourly looked at Starling as he rubbed the area where she had jabbed him. "Whatever. Let's just get out of this subway tunnel. We're in a bad position for an ambush if more of Krylin's assassins come in here."

Minna nodded and got up to her feet. As she did, she looked over at Ivan and they locked gazes for a brief second. Finally, it was the pirate that looked away first as he brushed past her.

Usually he'd walked beside her or take her hand, but when he did neither of those things this time, Minna felt a pang of hurt. She bowed her head and slowly followed the group out of the tunnel, never saying another word.

* * *

><p>"Ahhh!" Cedric let out a sigh of relief as he slipped down into the hot mineral water. He turned to Dante who was simply sitting in the hot water beside him looking gloomy as ever.<p>

The green haired thief scooted over to Dante and poked his friend on the cheek. "You won't get your memory back by staring at the water, Dante, or by looking so gloomy."

Dante shot him an annoyed look and swatted his hand away from his face. "I'm not-"

"Yes you are."

Avoiding Cedric's eyes, Dante muttered a soft, "whatever." He remained silent for a while before speaking again. "Nothing seems to be clicking for me."

"What do you mean?"

"Everything. I don't remember anything and anyone except the people I've known since I became a platoon leader. I don't even know how I lost my memories in the first place." Dante clenched his teeth and let out a frustrated growl. "I'm remembering things in fragments. The whole thing doesn't play out and only in short, confusing flashes. I don't even know if they really happened. How am I supposed to figure anything out?"

"Now, now, Dante." Cedric patted his friend's shoulder. "You shouldn't push yourself to remember. I think the cleric said something about this when they examined you a few days ago. He said that it might take a long time for you to fully recover."

"Yeah and he also said that I might not even get my memories back at all."

"That's only the worst case scenario!"

Dante glared down at the hot water in frustration, waiting until a few other Aegis soldiers left the bath house. After he heard the door snap shut, he spoke once more. "But what if I never get my memories back?"

"You will!"

"Then do you know?"

"Huh?"

"Do you know who Alice is to me?"

Taken aback by the sudden, sensitive nature of the question, Cedric didn't reply right away. Instead, he sunk back into the water and leaned back against the hot rocks. "...So, you still haven't figured it out?"

"Of course I can't." Dante's voice started to escalate out of frustration. "I can't! How am I supposed to figure it out when no one will tell me anything? Alice always acts like she's scared to tell me and when I tried to get her to tell me, all I did was make her cry!"

Cedric leaned his head back and stared up at the hazy ceiling. He moved his damp green bangs out of the way. "You always did have that habit I think," he said, chuckling softly as if he was reminiscing a fond memory. "Making Alice cry I mean."

"What?"

"I don't think I'm the right person for you to be hearing this from." Cedric sat up straight and looked back at his friend. He smiled a little and said, "you should be hearing this from Alice."

"How? She won't tell me-"

"While your trauma might be obvious, hers might not be so visible."

"Trauma?"

"You're not the only one that's suffering. There's a reason for her tears."

Dante stared at his friend confused as Cedric got out of the bath. "What do you mean?"

"You know..." Cedric grabbed a white towel and wrapped it around his waist. "Maybe you should come in here more often. These baths aren't only good for cleaning yourself up. Oh by the way," the bandit pointed down to Dante's chest, "you should get your platoon tattoo redone."

Dante looked down at the flame tattoo on his left pectoral. "Why?"

"Athena said that the current platoon leaders should because we had some deserters after what happened on Victoria Island. It's to differentiate the deserters from the current platoon leaders." Cedric turned himself slightly so that he could show the archer his platoon tattoo on his shoulder. It had more thick lines spreading out from the original flame and jagged points. "You should probably go meet with her after this." Cedric grinned and roughly ruffled up Dante's damp hair, much to the distaste of the archer. "Don't stay in here too long! The heat might get to you even though you're a fire user!"

Once Dante heard the door close shut, leaving him all alone in the bath house, he sank into the water just so that the water was up to his lips. He stared at the steam wafting off from the surface of the water for a long time, thinking to himself about what Cedric said earlier.

_"Trauma? What trauma?" _

He closed his eyes and tried to think back, trying to pick up any other fragments of his memory that he could remember.

_"Tears?" _

It was fuzzy, but he could make out a blurry black figure crying against him. As his vision slowly cleared up, he could see that it was just someone wearing his coat.

_"I'm so sorry, Dante. I'm sorry...!"_

He could see through his own line of vision that he was leaning down and burying his face into the top of her head.

_"What am I going to do now...? My martyr's a crybaby."_

Dante reopened his eyes and slowly stood up from the water. "There's a reason...for her tears..." he whispered. Finally, he hastily got out of the water and dried himself off with one of the towels. He rushed out into the changing room and grabbed the tub that held his clothes.

His hands shook as he tried to put on his clothes. He needed to go find Alice again.

_"I'm not the only one suffering."_

Once he got dressed, he zipped up the black vest in the front and quickly brushed his fingers through his messy black hair before running out. He made his way out of the barracks and onto the streets of Orbis. Dante panted as he looked around in either direction of the streets. He didn't even know where he was supposed to start looking, but he decided that her house would the best first choice. Without a second thought or hesitation, he ran.

_"That's why you wouldn't tell me anything, right Alice? You're suffering too." _

When Dante got to Alice's house, he knocked on the door almost frantically. "Hello? Is anyone home?

The door finally opened up, but he was slightly disappointed that it was Sean.

"Dante? What are you doing here?" the blue haired boy asked curiously, it looked as though he was in the middle of cooking something since he had on a white apron with a spatula in his hands.

"Where's Alice?"

"My sister? You just missed her. She went out somewhere. Didn't really say where thou-" Before Sean could even finish his sentence, Dante took off running. He looked on and then gently closed the door, but not so much that it was completely shut. Sean then turned to Alice, who had been standing off to the side the whole time. "He looks really desperate to look for you. Are you sure you don't want to see him?"

Alice worriedly looked off to the side, holding a hand over her mouth. She closed her eyes tightly, in deep thought. "Sean..."

"Hm?"

"...Which way did he go?"

Sean smiled as he opened up the door for his sister. He leaned out and pointed off towards the left side of the street. "He went that way."

Alice headed out the door and ran down the street, in the direction that Sean had pointed her out to. She thanked him quickly and ran as fast as she could. Her heart was beating fast, but it wasn't because of her running.

She was scared.

_"I'm scared of meeting you. I'm scared of falling in love with you again..."_

Alice panted heavily as she looked around, looking for any signs of the black haired man. Her sapphire blue eyes searched the crowds as she ran through the marketplace, but she couldn't see Dante anywhere. Finally, she mustered up her voice and shouted, "Dante! Dante! Where are you?"

* * *

><p>He heard her voice.<p>

Dante whipped around and looked over the crowds. How hard was it to find a blue haired girl? "Alice? Alice!" he called out, running back into the crowds again. He ignored the people that he bumped into and their remarks. He only had one goal and that was to find Alice.

* * *

><p>The crowds were impossible to navigate through. Alice had to squeeze in between people, get bumped around carelessly, and roughly shouldered on some occasions, but she kept going. She heard his voice, very faintly, but she still heard him.<p>

"Dante!" Her voice was dying as she was swallowed up by the crowd and the noise.

_"I don't know why I'm doing this. I know I was devastated when I found out you had forgotten me...but, I shouldn't try to push you away because of it. Instead I should try to remind you of me, right?" _

Alice felt someone bump into her roughly, causing her to fall over. She cried out softly as she hit the ground.

"Watch where you're going!"

Her elbow was dull with pain from the impact and her knees stung terribly from being scrapped. Despite the pain, she stood up and continued to try and find him.

_"I don't mind getting hurt anymore. I just want to see you. I just want to help you remember me and all the times that we spent together. The good ones and even the bad ones!" _

* * *

><p>Dante thought he saw a speck of blue somewhere in the crowd.<p>

"Alice!" he tried to call out again, hoping that he would find her soon.

_"I've been selfish. I only wanted to recall my own memories, not knowing that I was digging up yours as well." _

"Alice!"

_"I don't know what happened between us still, but it must have been painful for you. That's why you were crying, weren't you? But I'm not going to let you run away this time." _

The archer saw the crowds lightening up a little as he made his way down the marketplace street even more. That's when he felt someone grab him by the arm. It was a soft, feminine hand.

_"Because if we really were that close, then it must have been painful for me too. We were connected Alice and I want to know how, and if that's too painful for you to bear, then I'll bear it with you this time." _

"Dante!"

He turned around and saw the ends of the familiar blue hair. "Alice-!"

* * *

><p>She had called out for him, but he didn't respond...at least to her anyways.<p>

Alice stood there, confused and in shock with what she saw in front of her. A few feet away from her, she saw Dante, but he was with another girl. This other girl had long blue hair, blue eyes, the same build as her, even wearing the same kind of warrior armor as she did during her quests.

It was as if she was looking at a mirror.

* * *

><p>"I almost didn't recognize you! You look a lot older than you do in the photo that Athena gave me!"<p>

Dante saw the blue haired girl in front of him produce a small photo of himself from her pocket. It was a photo of him taken when he was nineteen. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Oh! That's right! I should introduce myself, shouldn't I?" She giggled, then extended her arm out for a handshake. "My name's Mary, your new martyr!"

He was starting to relapse. Mary? Wasn't her name Alice? Dante stared at her with his brow furrowed in confusion. Indeed, the girl in front of him looked very similar to Alice, but she called herself Mary.

"Mary...?" he muttered.

"That's right!" She giggled again and took him by the arm. "Athena's first task for me was to hunt you down and that was a lot easier than I thought! Come on! We can further introduce ourselves after wards!"

* * *

><p>Alice widened her eyes when she saw Dante being led away by the other woman. She reached out and started to call out his name again, but resisted. Something inside of her stopped herself.<p>

_"How come he didn't look for me? I called out to him." _

She watched the two run off and for some reason, she felt as if she was looking after her former self.

_"I'm right here Dante." _

Closing her eyes, Alice turned away, left all alone in the marketplace by herself, bruised and cut from her earlier fall.

"I was right here..." she whispered softly, walking and making her way back towards her house.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Thanks for the reviews guys! As promised again, here's another chapter! I'm really enjoying writing this since it's getting into the plot where I wanted it to be. _

_Of course, sorry for the short chapter, but I thought it was good place to end it here since Mary was introduced. Yes, she obviously going to be another antagonist. Too bad for Dante that he doesn't know it. Harhar._

_And yes, omgoshies, Minna and Ivan finally had a disagreement! -insert surprised face- I wasn't going to end it in an argument between them originally, but I thought I should create a conflict for them based upon Minna's overprotectiveness of Ivan after he lost his regeneration. Makes the couple seem more realistic rather than have them be all happy and understanding of each other and of course, I get to showcase Ivan's emotions and that he's capable of anger._

_In response to some recent reviews left..._

_**To Lost Echoes: **_

_I made Starling injured because I was actually trying to follow the quest's story line in MS. I am aware of how strong she and Crow are, but no matter how strong you are, you can be defeated by someone or something. :] And Robeira is the third job instructor for Magicians in El Nath. Minna and Ivan were housed in that same building where you go get your third job, so I thought she'd be a nice cameo NPC for the scene. _

_As for your last question, I'm not sure at this point. I'll decide to add the Resistance later if I see it fit. _

_**To Deathly Betrayal:**_

_Yes, you may use the Aegis freely in your story. :] Thanks for asking first! _

_And thanks a bunch to **Who cut the cheese**. That is by far...one of the BIGGEST compliments I've ever gotten about my writing! A book! My god, I can only dream! :]_

_Aside from that, I found this neat site called "WikiName" and I thought it would be fun to plug in some of the names of my characters and see what they meant. I was really surprised with the results for Dante's name because it really fits the conflict he's going through and I assure you guys that I didn't choose this name for him in the beginning because I knew the meaning of his name. It's really funny on how it came out. _

**_Dante  
><em>**_Pronunciation: DAHN-tay. DON-tay, DAHN-te  
><em>_Meaning: enduring, lasting, steadfast  
>Origin and History: The name Dante is an Italian name that originates as a shortened version of "Durante" meaning "enduring," "lasting" or "steadfast" stemming from the Latin "divans," which is the present participle of "durare" meaning "to last," "to continue" or "to endure."<em>

_I thought it was neat on how well it fit his current situation on having to deal with his amnesia and with Krylin. :] _

_I also tried Cedric, Alice, and Ivan's names and this is what I came up with._

_**Cedric  
><strong>Pronunciation: SED-rik  
>Meaning: bounty, spectacle, founder<br>Origin and History: The name Cedric has an interesting etymology; it was invented by Sir Walter Scott for a character in his novel, _Ivanhoe_. It seems he based it on the Welsh, or Old English, name _Cerdic_ ("kindly and loved"), but it's unclear whether he did it intentionally or not. Some authorities believe that Scott based Cedric on the Welsh name _Cedrych_ "spectacular bounty." It's interesting to note, however, that the founder of the kingdom of Wessex was a Saxon named Cerdic, and _Ivanhoe_has a Saxon setting._

_According to the science of numerology, people named Cedric tend to be very nurturing and caring. They're peacemakers and often act as such among their families and friends. They strive for balance and harmony in their surroundings, but sometimes they worry too much about the people they care for. They're responsible and affectionate, and they often have trouble saying "no."_

**Alice  
><strong>_Pronunciation: Al-iss, Al-lis, a-LEES  
>Meaning: sweet, truth, noble, of the nobility<br>Origin and History: __The name Alice originally stems back to the Germanic "Adalheidis," which is a combination of adal meaning "noble" and held meaning "kind" or "sort." Over time, "Adalheidis" was shortened to "Adalheid," which the French changed to "Adelaide." From there, the name found life in the forms "Adaliz," "Aaliz" and "Aliz." In England, the name was changed to "Aeleis" and "Alys" before the creation of the modern day "Alice." Gaelic forms of Alice include "Ailis" and "Ailis."_

_In medieval England, Alice was a common name, but was typically spelled Alys. The name was revived in the 19th century after a lengthy period of little use._

**Ivan  
><strong>_Pronunciation: ee-VAHN, EYE-vun  
>Meaning: archer, gift from God, God is gracious, God has mercy<br>Origin and History: __The name Ivan has a long lineage stemming from the name "John," which derives from the Middle Latin "Johannes," which was influenced by the Ecclesiastic Late Latin "Joannes." The name "Joannes" dates back to the Greek "Ioannes," which is a derivation of the Hebrew "ydnanan" from "yehondndn" meaning "Yahweh is gracious."_

_"Ivan the Terrible" – the first czar of Russia – and three other Ivan's, including "Ivan the Great," have ruled Russia throughout it's history._

_I thought all of these names fitted my characters pretty nicely :] In Cedric's case, although I do make Cedric do irresponsible things, like in the previous chapters, he really isn't that irresponsible. Although he does have playboy characteristics and a sort of "boyish" charm, I did make his character to be responsible at times when it's needed, such as the instance in this chapter when he was speaking to Dante. _

_Sorry that I spent so much time and space on this, but I really like choosing names for my characters that have meanings behind them and I wanted to share with you guys what I had found. I rarely do not assign names just because they sound "cool." Maybe it's just because of what I grew fond of because I've always thought it was really clever on the writer's part if they named their characters based on their contributions to the plot and so on. _

_Anyways, please leave a review! I really appreciate all of them and of course I'll repeat again, reviews = more motivation for me to write the next chapter! _


	14. Taken

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 14 - Taken**

The calm spring rippled softly as a gentle breeze rolled through the enclosed space.

Eternus reached out a frail hand to touch the mossy bark of the great World Tree. She let her minty green eyes scan over the tree's lush leaves and she muttered softly, "the tree needs its seed." Her head turned back down to Krylin, who stood on the stone bridge that overlooked the large space.

"The tree looks healthy enough to me."

"You may think of it like that if you must. But you cannot hide the fact that the tree is slowly losing its strength. Its strength is what keeps your kingdom on its feet."

"What?" Krylin scoffed loudly and tightly held onto her magic staff. "That's ridiculous! My own power is what keeping my kingdom afloat! I don't need a tree to keep my power!"

Eternus hopped down a few roots so that she could be at eye level with Krylin. Her footsteps were light and nearly inaudible. It was almost as if she was floating atop the roots. "Think what you must, but when this tree dies...your kingdom will go along with it. Unless you want your kingdom to be saved, bring me the World Tree's seed and I will once again acknowledge you as my master."

Her red lips turning up into a snarl, Krylin clenched her fists and with a turn of her long purple cape, she walked away.

As she got back into the main part of her castle, she was met by Isabelle, who had been standing dutifully on watch outside of the World Tree room.

"Your Majesty," the corsair bowed, "how did it go?"

"Hm, better than I expected," Krylin lied. She smirked and tapped her chin with a long red fingernail. "Since Mary is taking care of Dante for the time being, I should focus my search on this seed, shouldn't I?"

Isabelle didn't respond and instead, only followed the necromancer silently.

"The seed...is in a pure being. Hm...would you say that the female Dragon Knight you fought against is _pure_, Isabelle?"

"She has a certain sense of innocence in her, yes."

"Hm, then perhaps...a little visit is in order."

"What shall I do for you?" Isabelle asked, awaiting orders.

"Send two assassins, but tell them clearly that their objective is not to kill, but to take and take only. Tell them...to bring me Alice Everard."

* * *

><p>"But why her?"<p>

Athena held her hands behind her as she looked out the stained glass window. She turned her head just slightly so that she could see Dante standing a few feet behind her. "Why are you so adamant on making Alice your martyr again?"

"I thought you said we worked well together!"

"Yes, but as I've told you before, it will be hard for Miss Kaji to adjust to a new martyr. She and Alice work very well together right now."

"But-!"

"I want to hear no more from you, Dante. Mary is your new martyr and the perfect match to your strength in ranged attacks. I assure you that she is exceptionally skilled in fighting and she specializes in many defensive spells and can knock down the enemy's defenses quite easily. You were lucky that we found someone like her on such short notice."

Dante raised an eyebrow in question. "What? Short notice?"

Athena smiled and picked up the scroll that was lying on the long table in front of her. She picked it up and walked over to him. "Congratulations, Dante, you finally have that quest you were dying to go on." She handed him the neatly wrapped scroll and briefly informed him of its contents. "You will be going to the Minar Forest in Leafre with Mary. There have been reports that the dragons in that region are holding the World Tree's seed. With the help of Horntail, they plan to overthrow the Halfings living in that region and eventually rule over the other races as well."

"I thought the World Tree in itself was a myth."

"Unfortunately, it is very much in existence. While in the hands of the goddesses, it can provide peace and balance in the world, in the wrong hands its power can be used for evil and darkness." Athena pointed to the scroll she had just handed Dante, silently telling him to reveal its contents. "In any case, you will be accompanied by Miss Kaji and Alice as well. You and Mary are both new at this and since the Minar Forest is an unstable area of conflict, you should take all the help you can get."

As Athena predicted, Dante made a little sour face of discontent. She sighed at this and shook her head slowly.

"You will appreciate Lia's wisdom and tactfulness. Trust me."

"Fine," Dante grumbled, unraveling the scroll containing the quest's specific information. "The Halflings in Leafre wouldn't know anything about the seed, would they?"

"No. They only guard the ancient dragon eggs from Horntail, but that's hardly what he's after right now. It would do you no good to question the Halflings about the World Tree's seed since they want nothing to do with it."

"Then where are we even supposed to start looking? The Minar Forest is a huge area and we're not even sure of what kind of dragons are holding the seed-"

"The seed will emit a powerful spiritually aura...but that's only if it's in its awakened state." Athena saw the funny look that Dante gave her and she laughed. "That was no help, right? But in all seriousness, yes, it will be difficult to find the seed in such a vast area, but mages are more sensitive to picking up spiritual auras."

"Which is why you're sending Lia with us?"

"Exactly. I would like to send Minna with you since priests naturally have more sensitivity to such things, but she's away on another quest and Lia as a fire mage is good enough. She should be able to pick up the seed's aura in its dormant state."

* * *

><p>"You look so nice! Very handsome!" Mary giggled, commenting on his new armor made by the tailor.<p>

Dante smiled at her, a little uneasy with the generous compliment, as the tailor went around him, patting down and straightening up the black coat he was wearing. "Did you read up on the quest?"

"Of course I did!" Mary laughed again and leaned back on the small couch, crossing her long legs over one another. "So...we'll be joined by another two people?"

"Yeah."

"Can't wait to meet them! ...Although...I would have liked to have gone on this quest with just us two."

"Huh?"

"Well..." Mary got up from the couch and walked up to him. "I thought it would have been nice to have some quality time between us, you know? We're partners, aren't we?"

The raven haired man froze just for a second, feeling as if he had heard that very same line sometime long ago. "U-Uh...right..." he muttered. "Partners..."

"Something wrong?"

He looked away from the full length mirror in front of him and turned to her. "It's nothing."

The old tailor finally finished inspecting the new clothes on Dante and gave a strong pat on his shoulder. "You're done!" she exclaimed, startling him slightly. "Light, but strong armor for you. Perfect for an archer."

Dante experimentally moved his arm and found that his clothes felt light, but at the same time, they felt durable. "Thank you for your work."

Pursing her wrinkled lips, the old woman quickly packed up her scattered tools up off the floor around Dante and headed to the back room without saying a word.

Mary smiled up at him and ran her hand over his chest, smoothing out the black coat so that it lay flat against the leather strap that ran across his chest. "Maybe...some other time? I'd really like to get to know you."

He scoffed lightly and stepped away from her a little. "I'm not sure how well that's going to work out if I don't know myself."

"Well...we can always work around your amnesia, can't we? There's always chance for a new life...perhaps new memories?"

Dante didn't feel to comfortable with the fact of creating a new life for himself, but he smiled anyways. "Then, maybe some other time." He quickly bid farewell to Mary and left the tailor shop. His feet started at a walking pace, but soon turned into a full on run.

_"What the hell? Start a new life? Create new memories?" _

He didn't feel like, nor did he want to forget the past. He didn't want a new identity for himself. All he wanted was...

As he turned a corner, he roughly bumped into someone.

"Ouch!" he heard a female voice yelp.

They both fell to the ground and it took Dante a while to recover. His head suddenly felt as if it were spinning and there was a pressure as if there was someone pushing down on him.

_"...You shouldn't have come here,"_ he heard his own voice say inside of his head.

_"But, I was worried! You disappeared and-"_

_"Why does it concern you?"_

_"I-I'm your martyr- Why...? Why are you acting like this?" _

_ "I hate you. All you were was a hindrance. Didn't I tell you before? I don't need a martyr, especially one as useless as you. "_

Dante groaned under his breath as he held his head in pain. He was seeing flashbacks again and they still weren't making any sense. Slowly, he sat up and looked up to see who he had bumped into. His heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw Alice sitting on the ground opposite of him, rubbing her hips as she slowly recovered from the collision. "Alice..." he whispered; his red eyes wide with anxiety.

The blue haired girl seemed to perk up at the sound of her name. She slowly turned to him and for a split second, he noticed a sort of fear in her eyes, but it was quickly replaced with a more calm gaze.

"U-Uh...Dante...I..."

He noticed the woven basket that was toppled over at her feet with a few apples strewn here and there in front of them. Nervously, he stammered as he attempted to pick up the apples and place them back in the basket. "S-Sorry..." he apologized, then quickly regretting it when he realized that he must have sounded ridiculous in front of her. _"Ugh...what am I doing? Sounding like a stupid kid in front of her..."_

"It's fine..." Alice said, blushing as she helped him with the apples. Never did she expect to run into him...literally.

They both quickly picked up the remaining apples and stood up. There was a moment of awkward glances and the clearing of throats before Alice quickly tried to excuse herself first.

"No wait." Dante grabbed her hand and tried to think of what to say next. "I...need to talk with you."

Remembering her promise to herself about facing this challenge with Dante, Alice stood her ground, but that was easier said than done. Somewhere deep inside of her mind, she was screaming at herself to run away. The screaming seemed to work since Alice slowly moved her feet forward.

That was when Dante held onto her hand tighter. "Don't run away anymore."

"Eh?"

"I know what our past relationship was and how we weren't just martyr and platoon leader."

Alice trembled and Dante noticed this immediately. He knew how uneasy this made her, but he needed to push her. Without saying anything, he walked, dragging her along behind him.

Still shocked over what he had said, Alice quietly followed him, staring at the back of him. "Dante..." she whispered as he led her into Orbis Park. She noticed that he was taking her to the more secluded areas in the park and then they finally came to a white bench.

It had leaves and a bit of dust on it, showing that no one had sat on it for a while, but Dante sat down on it anyways.

Seeing as how she wasn't going to get out of this, Alice meekly complied and sat down next to him nervously.

"Want to tell me the truth now?" he asked her.

"I..."

Dante glanced at her and saw the look of uneasiness on her face. He saw her blue hair sliding off her shoulders and curtaining her face from him. Gently, he reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, causing her to flinch slightly. "Did I do this a lot to you?"

Alice stared at him, but quickly nodded. "O-Once or twice..." Her breath hitched in her throat when she felt him move his hand up to gently stroke the top of her head. She remained absolutely still as he did this.

"Am I scaring you?"

"No..."

"Did I scare you before?"

"No."

"Then why are you always running away from me? Or crying in front of me?"

She remained silent at this and simply stared down at the red apples in her lap. Alice felt him take his hand off of her head and she instantly felt relief wash through her. "I don't know..." she whispered, holding herself tightly.

Dante saw her becoming uneasy again and he backed off from his questions slightly. He reminded himself of what Cedric had told him about her hidden trauma. Perhaps if he could try to get her to open up with another tactic...

"That kiss...on the rooftop yesterday, was that our first?"

Alice widened her eyes and blushed in embarrassment at the thought. "I'm not sure-" She gasped when he suddenly slammed his hand down on top of the back board of the bench and leaned towards her. Her heart raced as he got closer and she found that her eyes were wandering down to his lips.

"You're not telling me anything again," he whispered, leaning in closer.

Alice backed away, holding her basket of apples tightly. She couldn't tell if he was angry or not, with such an impassive gaze fixed on her.

"Should I jog your memory?"

"My memory-?"

She nearly fell off the bench in shock when Dante kissed her fully on the lips. Alice whined in protest when she felt a dull pain from him pressing her hard against the metal arm rests. However, he showed no signs of backing off as he even went so far as to reach around to grab a fistful of her hair.

"Dante! You're hurting me!" Alice shouted as he pulled away briefly for air. Her words fell on deaf ears as he used this opportunity to coax her tongue out of her mouth. She tightly closed her eyes as she could feel him suckle on her tongue.

"Nn...s-stop!" she yelled, using all her strength to shove him off.

Dante was shoved back onto the bench and he wiped his mouth free of excess saliva with the back of his gloved hand. He watched her as she quickly stood up, carelessly dropping her basket of apples again. Alice held herself and looked at him with scared eyes.

"Are you going to run away again?" he asked her.

"What was that? I...I will if you do that again!"

He stood up from the bench and walked over to her. Alice never realized just how tall he was until now. His height seemed imposing as he stood over her. She looked up at him still with the fearful gaze. "So...I didn't treat you that roughly, did I?"

"Huh?"

"Did I treat you gently like this?"

He reached out and took a lock of her hair and brought it up to his lips.

Alice realized what he was doing and suddenly slapped him across the face, hard. She watched as he brought his hand up to his reddened cheek and touch the sensitive skin.

"Don't treat me like some pawn for you to get your memories back!" she shouted, angrily. "No matter what you do, no matter what I do, you'll never be the same as before!" Alice cried as she felt hopelessness starting to sink in. There was no way for Dante to regain his full memories again. He was never going to be the same Dante and she had once knew.

Dante remained silent and only stared at her as she cried in front of him.

"I just want Dante back! Just bring me Dante back and I'll-!"

Alice felt him bring her in for a swift and simple kiss. Her teary eyes stared at him until he pulled away gently. His hand held her by her face, cradling it as if it were something precious. His red eyes stared directly into her blue ones in a half-lidded gaze as he muttered a soft, "sorry," before kissing her again. It was short, but he kept his tight embrace around her. "I'll bring him back...I promise," he finally whispered, surprising her with his words.

He kissed her again, but this time's was much gentler and caring. Alice relaxed in his arms as he continued the kiss. Eventually, she closed her eyes and leaned into him, liking the kiss. It felt just like the ones that Dante used to give her. So full of tenderness, kindness, respect...

Dante felt her arms encircle his neck and that's when he knew that he must have still retained at least one part of him that she knew. He pulled away just for a split second before giving her another sweet kiss. In all honesty, he didn't know why he felt so at ease with kissing her. It was as if he had done it with her before, even though he had no recollection of it. And simply put, she _was_ addicting. Something drew him to her like a moth to a flame. Perhaps it was after he knew that she and him were lovers in the past.

His lips tingled when they stayed locked with hers and this too, he didn't know why.

They both pulled away for air, but Dante couldn't get enough of her. He held her close and dove back in for another kiss.

_"I'll bring back the Dante that you loved so much Alice." _

"Dante...-" Alice said in a soft gasp for air, but she didn't get very long to breathe when Dante gently pinned her to a tree and continued to kiss her silently.

_"But for now..." _

She enjoyed the kiss, but for some reason, it made her feel sad. Her blue eyes cracked open just a little bit and she saw a pained expression on Dante's face as he kissed her with his eyes closed.

_"For now...just pretend that I'm him. Please..."_

* * *

><p>"Mm! Such a warm day!" Meg exclaimed, raising her arms high above her head and stretching out her body. Triumphantly, she clenched her fists and cheered, "I'm so ready for that physical exam!"<p>

Sean, walking alongside her, smiled broadly at her enthusiasm. "You sound ready."

"I am! Just think about it! We're just one exam away from being enlisted in the Aegis!"

"I don't think it's fully..."

The blond cleric frowned. "Even if we are just rookie trainees! We can be sent out on quests alongside a platoon leader or a martyr! That's good enough for me! I want to start my own adventures! I want to see what's outside of Orbis!" Meg suddenly took hold of Sean's hand and tugged on it.

"Eh? Meg?" the young boy asked, blushing slightly at the physical contact.

"Let's go train in the park!"

"R-Right now?"

"Of course right now! We have our weapons on us anyways!"

Sean turned his head slightly to look at the shining metal of his Tavar axe over his shoulder. "U-Uhm...I'm not sure if I could fight you with this Meg, especially since you're a-"

"What? Afraid to lose to a cleric? Or maybe you're afraid to lose to a girl!" Meg said with a teasing giggle. "Don't worry! I've perfected my Magic Guard spell! You'll never be able to land a hit on me!"

The blue haired boy pouted a little, still a bit apprehensive about sparring her. "I-I don't know-"

"We _need_ to practice Sean! There's no time for this!" Meg dragged him along, darting through the busy Orbis streets. Sean shouted at her to slow down, but the enthusiastic cleric didn't show any signs of slowing down.

When they arrived in Orbis Park, Meg actively searched for an area that was secluded enough where they could train without hurting a bystander. However, Sean lagged behind, catching his breath and panting heavily.

"Over there Sean! That part of the park isn't so crowded at this time of day!"

Before Sean could say anything to Meg, the perky cleric grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

"Meg! Wait!" the warrior whined. His legs felt as if they were going to fall off and the fact that his brown canvas shoes were feeling like a set of lead bricks on his feet didn't help either.

"Sean! I thought you were a warrior! Aren't you supposed to be strong?"

"I...I just-!"

Suddenly Meg stopped and quickly yanked Sean off to the side.

"Meg? What-?"

"Shh!" She held her index finger over her lips and peeked out from behind the tree. "Look! Isn't that your sister?" she whispered.

Sean raised an eyebrow and peeked out from behind Meg. His blue eyes widened when he, indeed, saw Alice in Dante's embrace. A red blush covered his cheeks when he saw them kissing each other.

"Wah!" Meg gasped, blushing as well as she stared at the two kissing heatedly. "Is this what they call "adult's love"?"

"Meg! I don't want to stay here! It's awkward!" Sean tugged at her hand, begging her to leave.

"How?"

"It's awkward to see your older sister doing those things! You wouldn't know because you don't have any siblings!"

"Well, sorry!" She let out a soft 'hmph' and crossed her arms over her chest. Meg peeked out again and saw that the two of them had finally separated. They said something to each other, something that neither Sean nor Meg could make out from where they were.

Sean saw his sister looking rather saddened and slightly distressed as she held herself. He then saw Dante lean down and give her a small peck on the cheek, followed by a quick embrace. He said something else to her and all Alice did was shake her head slowly as she gently pushed him away.

"Quick! She's coming!" Meg took Sean's hand and led him away as Alice headed straight for them. The two of them ran until they ducked down behind a large shrub.

The cleric peeked out just as Alice passed by them. "She looks sad..." she commented, looking on until the blue haired girl disappeared from their sight. "It must be because of that guy! Who is he? Don't tell me its her old platoon leader that you told me about!"

"Meg! We shouldn't be poking into my sister's business!"

Meg gave an exasperated sigh. "Sean! She's your sister! Older or not, you should be worried that she's so upset all the time!"

"I am! But what can I do?"

"Maybe at least go beat up the guy that's making her cry!"

Sean thought about him going up against someone like Dante who was at least two heads taller than him and noticeably bigger. He shook his head and shouted, "it's impossible! Besides, Dante's not a bad person!"

"You're too naive, Sean!"

The two immediately hushed down when they heard the sound of running. They ducked down behind the shrub and hid just as Dante ran past them.

"Alice!" they could hear him call out.

They poked their heads out again when Dante was out of earshot.

"That was close," Meg said with a sigh of relief. "He nearly saw us." She looked down at Sean and smiled. "Well, at least we have this area to ourselves now! Come on!"

Sean crawled out from the bush after Meg and got up to his feet. "Are you still sure about training Meg? I...I don't want to hurt you."

The cleric giggled and patted his bony shoulder. "The only thing you need to worry about is if you can even land a hit on me Sean. And we'll see who will be hurting who." She winked as she pulled out her Angel Wings wand.

Seeing as how self-confident she was with her magic, Sean sighed in defeat and mumbled, "fine, I'll fight you."

Meg happily clapped her hands together and threw her arms around him. "Thanks Sean!" She pulled away happily, but still saw a sort of sour expression on the warrior's face. "What's wrong?" she asked curiously.

He was looking off to the side and she turned her head to look at whatever it was that he was looking at. Meg quirked an eyebrow when she saw him looking at the area in front of them that was littered with fallen apples.

"I told me sister to get some apples for some apple pie and she just left them there..." Sean grumbled, going up to the apples. "She's so careless when it comes to these things!"

"Jeez Sean...you sound like a mom! You had better fight me after this!" Meg whined, following him as he went to retrieve the apples that Alice had left.

* * *

><p>The sun was starting to go down, but the air still felt warm. Alice walked back into the main city, but as she reached the end of the park, she heard Dante coming up behind her.<p>

"Alice!" he said, grabbing her arm.

"Let me go," Alice muttered, yanking her arm away. Before she could walk away again, Dante took her hand again.

"No," he said in a stern voice. "You and I both need to face our past."

"I already did. I don't need to face it again."

"What?"

Annoyed, Alice whipped around to face him and angrily she shouted, "you may not remember it, but I do! I remember everything clearly! I know you said you wanted to shoulder my pain too, but how can you when you can't even remember anything?"

"Me forgetting everything wasn't my fault," Dante said while glaring at her, tightening his grip on her hand. "I don't even know how I forgot everything, so you can't place all of this on me!"

"I'm not placing anything on you!"

"Then what's the problem?" Dante yelled.

"It's all my fault!" Alice finally confessed.

The archer widened his red eyes and loosened his grip on her hand until he finally let go quietly. "What...? What are you talking about? What was your fault?"

Alice clenched her fists and turned away. All the feelings that she had been holding down were suddenly coming out all at once. Her anger, her frustration, her sadness, her fears, and her guilt...

"You were dead, Dante. I let you get killed...right in front of me." Alice felt her voice breaking up as she continued to talk. Her tears flowed out of her sapphire blue eyes. "I held you in my arms, I had your blood in my hands..." She brought her shaking hands up and she stared at her palms. "You died in my arms and I couldn't stop that."

Dante stared at her confused and bewildered by what he was hearing. When did he die? When did any of this happen? "Is this why you're acting so weird around me?"

"I didn't want to believe you were dead. I didn't want to believe that you were gone. I didn't want to accept any of it! But...you died...you died in front of me."

"Alice..." He reached out to touch her, but Alice quickly backed away. She trembled uncontrollably as she cried softly.

"I thought I was going crazy when I saw you for the first time in El Nath. At first I didn't think it was you, but you looked so similar. I was so happy that it was you." Alice hugged herself and fell to her knees. She squeezed her eyes shut and said, "I was so happy...but then I could remember how I let you die."

"You would never let me die," Dante whispered.

"But I did! I was your martyr and I just-!"

Alice got up abruptly and shook her head. "I can't be with you anymore," she quietly whispered.

"What are you saying to yourself?" he growled in frustration, unable to understand her the guilt she was placing on herself. "I may not remember anything, but it's no reason for you to act like this!"

"How can I continue to be with you when all I can see is blood?"

"Blood? Alice-" Dante stepped forward and grabbed her. "-I'm not bleeding. I'm not hurt."

She looked as if she was in a trance up at Dante. "You got captured by Krylin because I couldn't protect you!" The guilt felt overwhelming inside of her. The past few years, she could remember how the events leading up to Dante's death and how she tried different scenarios, different things she could have done at that moment to make the outcome slightly different.

* * *

><p>Eternus turned to the World Tree behind her and widened her minty green eyes. "The seed is awakening..." she muttered.<p>

* * *

><p>Alice looked up at Dante through teary eyes and slowly pushed him away. "I can't be with you anymore."<p>

"Alice-"

"Even if you get your memories back...I can't." She kept her hands on his arms, but soon slowly pulled them away, as if a part of her really didn't want to part with him.

_"You let me die." _

"I did let you die, Dante...I'm the reason why everything happened to you up until now."

"Why are you blaming yourself like this?" He clenched his fists, annoyed with how he couldn't get through to her. "Regardless of what happened, you shouldn't beat yourself up!"

Alice closed her eyes painfully. She could hear his voice inside of her head.

_"Why didn't you save me, Alice?"_

Dante touched her shoulder and immediately, Alice flinched and hit him away, as if his touch had hurt her. "No more!" she shouted. "I-I'm sorry to have kissed you yesterday and earlier...I can't. I can't..." she cried, holding her hands in front of her chest.

_"I can't face my own fears of our past..." _

"Alice, stop this-"

"No...I won't." She looked at him and felt tears roll down her cheeks. "I'm sorry Dante," she finally whispered, dropping her head. Alice turned to walk away, but Dante stopped her again by grabbing her hand.

This time, however, she said in a low voice, "please...don't stop me anymore. It's better for both of us this way."

Although she wanted him to let go, she couldn't help, but feel a sinking feeling in her stomach when he really did let go of her hand slowly. The retreating warmth was something that Alice did not want to experience, but she knew that it was unavoidable, she just didn't know that it would hurt this much.

"Fine..." Dante muttered. "If it's what you think is the best for you...then we'll stop this." He gave one last look at the back of her, secretly hoping that she would turn around to take back everything she said, but when she stood there still, he closed his eyes and turned away from her himself.

"Goodbye, Alice."

She felt the tears coming on harder when she heard him walking away.

Then suddenly, Dante stopped and looked up at the slowly dimming sky. He flashed a broken smile up at the blinking stars. "I think that even with my memories gone...I was actually starting to fall in love with you. Funny, isn't it? Is this what they call 'fate?'"

Alice stood there in surprise over what he said. Regret filled her over what she had said to him and she instantly wished she could have taken it all back, but the feeling of guilt took over. She shook her head and bit her bottom lip.

_"No...I can't. I don't deserve to be with Dante" _

She sniffled and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, like a little child. All the while, she could hear his voice ringing inside of her head.

_"Save me...save me, Alice. Why did you let me die?" _

* * *

><p>"Ouch." Meg fell forward onto her hands and knees. She winced at the pain she felt inside of her. Faintly, she could hear Sean running up to her.<p>

"Meg? Meg, what's wrong?" he said with a voice of concern. Sean gently touched her shoulders and he suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of energy rush through his body. It was so overwhelming that Sean immediately took his hands away with a great gasp. "M-Meg?"

The cleric suddenly felt faint and saw her vision darkening. She swayed before hitting the ground.

"Meg!" Sean exclaimed, crawling up to her and shaking her. "Meg! Wake up!" He had no idea why she had suddenly blacked out. It wasn't like they were sparring each other to death. He had barely even launched any attacks to her and those that did reach her, she blocked with her Magic Guard. "Meg!" he desperately cried out.

The park was quickly consumed in the darkness of night and Sean knew that there was no one around at this hour, especially in this part of the park.

"Help! Someone-!"

"What's wrong with her?"

Sean flinched in surprise and turned around. He looked extremely bewildered when he saw the last person he would expect to see. "Ciel?"

The beautiful blond elf knelt down and narrowed her green eyes down at Meg. "I'll take her. Just tell me where her house is."

"Eh? Are you sure you can-?" He watched in surprise as the delicate looking elf immediately picked up Meg in her arms. Sean stared in awe with how easily Ciel was holding Meg. "U-Uh...I can come with you to lead the way..."

"No. I can find my way around myself. Just tell me where her house is," Ciel said in a no-nonsense tone.

"Uhm, it's a little white house with a lot of blue flowers in front of it. It's a little bit past the barracks."

"Thank you. I'll take her there. You should go back home and get some rest."

And as simply as that, Ciel left with Meg, leaving Sean standing there alone. He was utterly confused as to what had just happened. Was it just coincidence that Ciel had been in the area right when Meg fainted? Sean shook his head at this thought. He dismissed it, but he didn't see any other reason why Ciel had such perfect timing.

* * *

><p>Dante slowly shuffled his feet against the cobblestone road as he walked back to the barracks. It still frustrated him on how things had played out. Alice was guilty and he didn't even know why.<p>

He stopped in his tracks and grit his teeth. If only he hadn't lost his memories...

In pure anger and frustration, he let out a loud yell and brought down his fists on the nearest wall. He leaned his forehead against the cold bricks and breathed heavily, making his shoulders heave up and down visibly. "Why can't I remember?" he whispered harshly. "Why isn't anything working out?"

"Dante? Is that you?"

The archer turned around and upon his first glance, he thought he saw Alice, but he then recognized the girl standing in front of him to be Mary. "I...uh..."

"I've been looking for you everywhere, you know?" she exclaimed, going up to him and immediately latching onto his arm. "You just ran out on me at the tailor's shop!"

"Yeah...sorry." Dante brought his hand up and tangled his fingers in his black bangs. He closed his eyes and muttered, "sorry, I'm not in a mood to talk right now. Maybe next time..."

"Oh...next time." Mary sadly smiled as she slowly let go of him. "Of course. Always next time."

"Mary-"

"I'm your martyr and yet you don't look like you even want to be around me." She hugged herself, wrapping her hands around her bare arms. "If you hate me, just say it."

"I don't, I just..." Dante sighed tiredly and closed his eyes. "I don't," he repeated. "It's just...other problems."

Mary stared at him for a while before walking up to him. Standing directly in front of him, she cupped his face and said with a little smile, "your memories are painful, aren't they? They're lost and you feel like you can't get them back."

The raven haired man remained silent as Mary hugged him. He couldn't help, but listen to what she had to say.

"But...they're gone for a reason, Dante. Maybe you just weren't meant to recall them. Maybe it's just telling you that you should make new memories." Mary pulled away just slightly and looked up at him again, staring directly into his red eyes. "I'd like to make new memories with you...if that's possible."

"I don't know if I can," he whispered.

The blue haired woman leaned up, closing in on him. "It's easy to forget, so just forget about the past and move on."

Dante felt numb as he vaguely felt Mary's lips on top of his. His eyelids fell to a half-lidded gaze and he watched her as she kissed him. At this distance, with her eyes closed, Mary looked just like Alice.

_"Just like Alice..." _

Mary opened her eyes just a bit when she felt his arms encircle her waist and fully kiss her back. The corner of her lips twitched, then went up into a little smirk when she saw him completely taken over by her. All according to plan...

_"Alice..." _

Behind his closed eyes, he pictured the blue haired spearman, smiling and laughing. It was strange that they were so vivid though...because he had never seen her like this since he had woken up.

Dante pulled away from Mary just briefly, before diving back down for another kiss. He didn't open his eyes once. He didn't want to see another woman in front of him other than Alice, no matter how similar they looked. But he could pretend.

He couldn't have Alice, so this was all he could do.

* * *

><p>She didn't know how long she had been wandering around for. But as time wore on, less and less people began roaming the streets of Orbis, leaving her all alone.<p>

Alice's feet ached for relief, but she continued to walk around aimlessly. Her eyes felt heavy and swollen from crying so much and her head hurt from her racing thoughts. She let out a soft sigh and bowed her head. It was all for the best, she continuously told herself, but a small part of her continued to protest. It kept telling her to make amends with Dante, to take him back.

_"It's already too late for that now..."_

Too immersed in her own thoughts, Alice didn't even realize that she was being followed. It wasn't until she saw a throwing star fly just past her head and hit the ground before her, did she react.

Alice quickly turned around, alert for any enemies. Her blue eyes darted around the dark street, but she couldn't see anyone. "W-Who's there?"

As if responding to her, two more throwing stars flew towards her. She dodged them by ducking down, but that soon proved to be her downfall.

A man as soon on top of her, grabbing and restraining her arms. Alice grunted, trying to get him off of her. She managed to stand up just slightly and shake him off. Alice heard him fall to the ground and she used this opportunity to escape.

However, this was short lived.

Alice felt a rope wrap around her ankle and immediately, she fell forward. As she tried to get up, the man that handled the rope pulled her towards him. In a panic, Alice tried to free herself as she was being pulled on the ground. When she couldn't free herself, she decided to go for a head on attack.

Once she got pulled until she was right in front of him, Alice gave a sweeping kick to his feet, promptly knocking him over. As she got up, a second masked man tried to attack her from the side.

Alice blocked his kick with her arms and she stumbled a bit when he pulled back. She just didn't have her strength without her Eviscerator.

"What do you want with me?" she questioned them in a stern voice.

When they both stood there, unmoving, Alice could hear her own heart pounding away inside of her chest. She was scared, but she knew that this wasn't the time to show it.

"Answer me!" she shouted.

When the two of them suddenly ran towards her, Alice decided that she would have no choice, but to fight them.

They separated in front of her, coming at her from both sides. Alice got out of the way and went for the one that was coming for her right side. She dodged his kicks and punches, but she had a hard time keeping up with both of them when the second assailant started to attack her at the same time.

Alice eventually succumbed to them by getting an arm wrapped around her neck. She screamed and struggled, trying to get someone's attention.

"Hurry!" she could hear them whisper to each other.

Immediately, she felt a cloth being pressed over her mouth. It smelled strange to her and she tried to hold her breath, but it was useless. Eventually, Alice took in the scent of the fumes and she found herself becoming dizzy. Her breathing calmed down and her body slowly went limp. Vaguely, she could feel them tying her up with more rope. However, she couldn't do anything about it. Her body felt weak and her mind was going blank.

Her eyelids slowly drooped before she completely blacked out.

* * *

><p>"Coming to?"<p>

Alice blinked tiredly. Her vision cleared up slowly as she looked up to see the woman standing in front of her. Almost immediately, she let out a loud gasp in surprise when she saw it was Krylin. She tried to bring her hands in front of her, but they were held back by chains tied to the walls of the cell she was in.

Krylin smirked at the struggling warrior and bent down. She grabbed Alice's jaw and made make eye contact. "So...first it's Dante, now it's you. I'm going to have fun with you," she said, chuckling darkly afterwards.

For some reason, Alice stared at Krylin with wide, frightened eyes. She couldn't move her body as the necromancer raked her long, blood red, fingernails over her cheek. Unknowingly, she let out a scared, trembling breath, one that Krylin picked up on.

"Scared? Oh..." the purple haired woman cooed, gently stroking Alice's smooth cheek. "Don't worry...I'll take care of you, just like how I took care of your precious Dante."

Alice let out a soft, frightened cry when Krylin roughly threw her head to the side.

"We'll start the extraction process as soon as Eternus confirms you are the holder of the World Tree's seed."

The blue haired girl looked at the mage in confusion. The World Tree's seed? What was this?

"And if you aren't the holder...well..."

Alice cried out when Krylin grabbed a fistful of her blue hair and roughly pulled on it.

"...then I think you'll be a good bargaining chip for Dante."

Carelessly, Krylin let go of Alice's hair and walked out of the cell. The heavy iron door shut and Alice was left all alone in the cold room. Fearfully, she looked around and saw no light, no noises...nothing.

She began to wonder if this was all a dream. A horrible nightmare that would end soon. A nightmare that she would wake up from and it would all disappear.

Alice squeezed her eyes shut and reopened them a minute later. Her heart sank when all she saw was the dark cell again. Trembling at the harsh reality, Alice tugged at the chains that held her hands against the wall behind her.

"H-Help...help! Anyone!"

She trembled uncontrollably at the silence. "Help!" she cried out again. "Please..." she whispered, "someone help me. Ada! Sean!" Alice hung her head and cried softly.

"...Dante."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_  
><em>

_Ahem. _

_You can all speculate on who's the World Tree seed. I think I made it pretty obvious in this chapter though. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM_

_Yeah, noob Athena still thinks the seed is an actual seed, not a person, but then she doesn't have a mystical fairy thing like Eternus telling her what to do like Krylin has. _

_...I'll stop now. _

_As always, please review! I really do read all of the reviews left for me and I enjoy them greatly with a grin! Don't worry, Cedric and Ada will be reappearing soon after their little "incident." And to **Deathly Betrayal**, I saw your icon and I think it's very cute! Thanks for making sprites of Alice and Dante! _

_I was actually thinking about going back to Maple, but all of my irl friends are scatter across the servers. :C Plus, lots of them don't play anymore and I'd like to return to it for a short period of time. What server do you guys play in? I'm currently in Bera with my epic level 14x bowman, DanteKyudo C: _

_I updated for you guys on a Friday! If I get lotsa reviews, I'll produce the next chapter by Sunday. If not, then I'll see you guys in one/two weeks! _

_BOOP_


	15. Resonating Memories

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 15 - Resonating Memories**

He wasn't looking forward to this quest. Not only was he going to have to face Alice again, but he would have to do so with Mary by his side.

"Ah! Really chilly this morning, isn't it?" Mary exclaimed, coming up beside him. Dante simply crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

"Uhm...Mary..." he started to say in a hesitant mutter.

"Hm?"

"Sorry about last night."

"What are you talking about?" the paladin asked with a soft giggle. "I really liked it...needless to say-"

"I'm sorry, just forget about it."

Mary furrowed her brow in confusion at Dante's abrupt and surprising response. "Uh, I don't really understand. You...you kissed me back! You like me too, don't you?" Her smile faded slightly when she saw that Dante wasn't taking back what he had said. She backed off a bit. "O-Oh,"Mary stuttered, tucking a piece of her blue hair behind her ear. "I see..."

"Sorry-"

"Don't apologize." She smiled sadly and took his hand. "There's someone else, isn't there?"

Dante didn't answer her, but it seemed as though Mary had already figured it out.

"You were upset about her last night, weren't you?" Just slightly, she moved close to him. "I may not be her and even if you do choose to love her, I'll still chase you." When Dante looked at her with a questionable gaze, she reached up to cup his cheek. "Even though you never really seen me, I've been admiring you and your work from afar. It's always been my dream to work side by side with you."

"Well...you have your dream now, right?" Dante added in a little chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

"You could say that," Mary replied, giggling. "Dante, even if you're in love with that other girl, I'll make you fall in love with me."

"That's...that's not possible."

"But-"

"Hello you two," Lia said as she approached Dante and Mary, breaking up their conversation. Immediately, Dante separated himself from the paladin and tried to act as if everything was okay.

"H-Hi," he stammered out. Dante glanced around for Alice, then finally asked the fire mage, "where's your martyr?"

"Hm?" Lia sounded as if she was genuinely confused. "I thought she would be here already. I didn't check by her house this morning. I'll go right now, but it's strange. It's not like her to be late for a quest."

* * *

><p>The thick, dark forests of the Dungeons smelled musty and felt dirty with dark magic. It brought a bad feeling down to the pit of his stomach as he stood in the shadows of the high trees, spying on a pair of soldiers that walked past.<p>

Xin narrowed his dark blue eyes down at the two soldiers, no doubt from Krylin's army, patrolling around the Dungeon area. He knew that they were only patrolling to guard something of importance.

He reached around to grab the handle of his Doombringer sword.

Even though his objective was to meet with the Silent Crusade members, he had somehow gotten separated from Minna and Ivan, and he ended up in the Dungeons rather than Edelstein. Xin decided that his new objective would be to scout the area around here and take down some new information for the Aegis.

The soldiers seemed to be chatting rather languidly amongst themselves as they walked the narrow path.

"It's absolutely ridiculous on how our commander just orders us around for simple errands! I mean, can't he do them himself-?" He suddenly gagged and fell over, dead.

At the sight and sound of his friend's demise, the remaining soldier unsheathed his sword and whipped around to face the assailant. "W-Who's there?" he shouted.

Xin charged forth from the shadows where he had been hiding and swung his massive weapon at the frightened soldier. Their swords clashed with an intensity that made the metals screech upon impact.

"Tell me what you're guarding."

When the soldier didn't respond, Xin broke off the contact and delivered a barrage of blows. The soldier managed to block off the two swings of his sword, but when Xin spun around swiftly and kicked him in the gut, he barely had any time to react. From the force of the kick, the soldier flew back into a tree.

He coughed out blood and slumped against the tree as Xin walked up to him. The crusader grabbed the soldier by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up to his face. "Is Krylin's castle around here?"

"I-If I tell you, she'll kill me!"

Xin brought up his Doombringer and pressed the sharp edge against the man's unprotected neck. "Then I'll bring a painless death upon you if you tell me where her castle is."

The man let out a shaking breath. Clearly he didn't want to die, but he definitely did not want to suffer a painful death in Krylin's hands. "H-Her castle is shrouded within the shadows. Normal people won't be able to see it from the outside. Only those with dark magic can see it."

"Then how are you able to see it?"

"We don't. Krylin...she uses all of her soldiers as her own eyes and ears. There's no escape." The soldier shook violently in fear. "There's no escape from her..."

"Mind control?"

"I don't even remember how I get into the castle. One minute I'm standing outside and then the next minute I'm inside the castle. Please...please kill me right now. Krylin, I can feel her presence within my head!"

Xin stepped back a little when the man began to scream crazily as if he had already lost his mind. He quickly dropped the man and plunged his Doombringer right into the screaming man's head, bringing an instant death to him.

The screaming stopped immediately and the man fell to the ground with his mangled head.

_"So, you've come to me, dear crusader." _

Xin grew alert and whipped around, gripping his sword tightly. His dark blue eyes glanced around the dark forest, but he couldn't see a thing.

_"Yes...I remember you. You were the one that broke down my mana shield. Yes...I remember clearly._ _You must be here to rescue Alice." _

He blinked in shock. Why was Krylin mentioning Alice? Did she really have her as a prisoner? Although this was a surprise to him, Xin maintained a cool exterior, looking as though the new news did not faze him. It seemed that Krylin did not know about his original objective for coming to Victoria Island.

_"Hm, the Aegis is fast in retrieving one of their own. She must be of somewhat value to the Aegis other than being a mere martyr. Come and rescue her if you must, but just know that I'll be waiting." _

Xin lowered his guard when the strange presence disappeared. _"Don't tell me Krylin really has Alice. She can't...Alice was safe in Orbis." _

At first, Xin thought this was Krylin baiting him, but he ignored it. He figured that since he was going to make his way to Krylin's castle anyways, he should take the chance regardless. If indeed Alice was held captive by Krylin, then there was no reason for him to not go there.

He swung his sword down sharply and the blood that was on it flew off. It splattered onto the mossy ground and colored the ground in a deep red. Xin then slipped it back into its hold on his back and continued in the direction where the two soldiers had came from.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean you can't find Alice?"<p>

"I'm truly sorry, Miss Athena," Lia humbly apologized, bowing her head. "She's my martyr, I should have checked up on her more often. I haven't been for a past few days."

The elf let out a soft, frustrated sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "No...it's not your fault Lia. It's mine. Never would I have thought that anyone would be in danger in Orbis. I should have posted more guards in and around the city."

Dante fidgeted nervously behind Lia and constantly avoided eye contact with Athena. Not only did he meet with Alice last night, but he made her greatly upset. He had no doubt that he had some part in her disappearance.

"In any case," Athena announced. "You three will go to the Minar Forest as planned. You're already behind schedule as is. I will send out some squads to go look around Orbis and perhaps even El Nath if we still can't find her. It's only been a few hours, she couldn't have gotten that far."

* * *

><p>Cedric peeked out from behind a tree and smiled when he spotted Ada training with her throwing knives. He knew that it probably wasn't the best time to approach her after the "incident" -unless he wanted a knife in his head-, but he figured he wouldn't get any other time to talk to her.<p>

"Ada!" he cheered happily as he jumped out from his hiding place. Almost immediately, a sharp steely flew past his head and landed in the tree beside him. Cedric froze up at the near miss and laughed nervously. "A-Ada?"

"About time you showed up. You were staying behind that tree forever." Ada didn't even look at him as he slowly approached her.

"Ah, that's my Ada! Always had the keenest mana detection! Even if I'm great at hiding my mana, you can still find me"

She sighed as she threw one last steely into the wooden dummy target. "What do you want?"

He plopped down on the old tree stump a few feet away from her. "I want to talk."

Ada remained silent as she lifted up the edge of her tank top to wipe her forehead. "If it's about what happened a few nights ago, forget it. I don't want to."

"Really?"

"Really." She threw off four steelies, each hitting the four wooden dummies that were set up in the training area. "There's nothing to talk about anyways."

Cedric pouted a little at how cold Ada sounded towards him. However, he continued to try and get her into a conversation. "You know what we should do?" he asked cheerfully.

"Maybe be quiet?" Ada said in a condescending manner.

"No!" The green haired bandit hopped off the stump and smiled broadly. "We should fight each other!"

Ada stopped her training and stared at him in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Exactly what I'm talking about! We should try and spar each other! We never did since you became my martyr, did we?" Cedric kept his goofy smile when he saw Ada warming up to the idea. "Come on! No kid gloves! Let's just give ourselves the best we can do!"

The female assassin wiped the sweat on her upper lip away with the back of her hand. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!"

"And if something happens?"

"I won't go _that_ hard on you, Ada! Don't worry about a thing!"

"I was talking about you."

"What-?" Cedric barely had time to finish talking when he felt the initial blow of her jump kick. He flew back a few feet into a tree and was stunned at the force. As if that wasn't enough, just as he got up, he felt four steelies pin the edges of his black Pirate top down against the tree.

He didn't even have a chance to prepare himself and already he looked as though he had lost.

"Don't hold back just because it's me," Ada said as she walked up to him. Her gray eyes narrowed when she saw him laughing sheepishly. _Annoying..._

"Ah...I guess not." Cedric smiled up at her and tugged at the steelies, which were pretty deep into the tree trunk. "Wow, I didn't even realize the fight had already started, but it looks like it already ended. You're so strong, Ada-!"

"Don't joke around, you bastard!" she suddenly shouted. Ada glared at Cedric with a growing annoyance which was quickly turning into a hatred. "You said no kid gloves!"

"That I did."

"Then what the hell is this?" Ada grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him up to what extent he could be pulled up. "You're purposely going easy on me!"

"Ada! No I'm not-!"

"Yes you are! Don't lie! I know you're much stronger than this! You could have dodged my attack easily! I remember I saw you on the quests we go on. You barely do a thing and I did everything! At first, I thought you were really useless and a weak platoon leader, but then I caught glimpses of you fighting during our fight against Krylin." Ada tightened her grip on his collar. "You were fighting like I've never seen before! It was almost like you were a completely different person with a whole new skill set!"

"You're not mad because of this...are you, Ada?"

Frankly, Ada found herself being fed-up with how Cedric treated her. She didn't like his jokes, the airheaded ways he would talk to her, the way he held back whenever he was around her...

"I just..." she started slowly, under a harsh breath, "I want you to quit fooling around...-"

"Ada-"

"-...with me."

Cedric looked up at his partner's face and saw a look of utter frustration and desperation. It almost looked as though Ada would break into tears, but she didn't. Instead, she fell to her knees in front of him and said, "everything's a joke with you. It's not like I don't mind that, but when you also joke around with me, I don't know if you're serious or not."

"Why would you think that I'm joking around with you?"

"Isn't it obvious? You're always calling me those stupid, pet names, always making those lewd comments, even now...you said we'd fight each other seriously and you didn't do a thing." Ada clenched her fists, grabbing a fistful of grass in her hands. "I just want you to take me seriously." She dropped her head and muttered, "I'm different from those stupid girls that chase you around, you know!"

"...I know."

Ada widened her gray eyes and looked up at Cedric, who was smiling at her warmly. It was different than his usual stupid smiles or goofy grins. "Wha-?"

"I call you those pet names because I like how you blush at them. I make those perverted comments because I always thought the way you would react to them was cute. And...I don't think I'll ever really seriously fight you because I'm afraid you'll get hurt. Maybe you don't get these feelings, but I do and I do take you seriously Ada." He laughed lightly and said, "you're definitely not like the girls that chase me around. So don't worry about tha-_mmph_!"

Cedric stared at Ada in shock as she kissed him suddenly. The surprise wore off quickly and he relaxed into the kiss, enjoying it until she pulled away.

Then, almost as sudden as the kiss was, she slapped him hard across the face.

"A-Ada!" he exclaimed as he held his reddened cheek.

"Don't misunderstand, you pervert. I still think you're irresponsible, immature, and stupid." Ada got up to her feet and turned away from him. "...But thanks for telling me that," she whispered as she tucked a lock of her dark gray hair behind her ear.

Cedric looked up at her and although she turned away quickly, he saw a glimpse of her blushing face. He smiled broadly, despite the fact that his cheek was burning from her slap, and easily pulled out the steelies that were pinning him to the tree. Ada saw this and grew annoyed again.

"Y-You were pretending!" she shouted. "You bastard-!" Ada froze when she felt him kiss her again. It felt so sweet and warm, that she nearly let her legs buckle from underneath her.

When he pulled away, Cedric smiled at her again. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it! My little Ada looked so cute blushing so I-"

Before he could even finish talking, Ada punched him hard in the face. "You stupid pervert! Who said you could kiss me whenever you want, huh? Just because I did it, doesn't mean you can too!"

* * *

><p>The night air felt incredibly cool and crisp. Dante assumed that it was because of how high their rooms were perched on top of the highest of trees in the small town of Leafre. The Halflings had been extremely hospitable, although somewhat shy as they humbly offered up some empty treehouses for them to sleep in for the night before they embarked on their quest.<p>

"Didn't expect anyone to be here at this time of night."

Dante turned around at the sound of Lia's voice. He saw the fire mage walking up to him with a smile on her face. "I didn't expect anyone either," he replied as she came up to his side.

"Guess we are both a bunch of insomniacs," Lia said jokingly. "Is there a reason you can't sleep?"

The black haired archer sighed as he leaned his arms down against the wooden railing. He looked out at the vast sea of treetops and further into the distance, he fixated his eyes on the gray mountains in the Minar Forest. "Just things," he replied, unable to say precisely what it was that was bothering him.

"Hm. Sounds like a burden." Lia turned her head out towards the view, even though she couldn't see it. "It's a lot better if you talk to someone about it, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"We both can't sleep. Might as well tell each other our problems, hm?"

Dante looked at her as she let out a soft sigh.

"You know...I can't sleep because I'm worried for Alice."

"You must care about her a lot."

Lia chuckled softly. "Yes, I do. We've only been together for two years...but we've been through a lot. She tries very hard to protect me and sometimes I wish she would think about her safety first before mine. I understand that she was your previous martyr."

"Yes...although I can't remember."

The fire mage could make out some sort of a distress in Dante's tone of voice. "You shouldn't force yourself to remember. It'll make your memories even more cloudy."

"Cloudy?"

"If you were meant to remember, you would get those memories back, no matter what." Lia smiled at him. "So don't force yourself, Dante. If you want to get your memories back no matter what, then you will eventually, without trying."

"I see..."

"They might not all be the best of memories, but they're still your memories nonetheless. Even if some of them are bad, you have those good memories to look for and getting them back is worth everything." Lia turned to him and felt the need to comfort her son, even though he didn't know she was his mother. She smiled as she reached up to cup his face with both of her hands. "Don't worry too much, Dante. You're still recovering after all."

Dante stared back at her in curiosity from her gentle gesture. However, as he let the warmth of her hands warm up his cold cheeks, he felt some sort of a comfort from them. He felt at ease with Lia, even though he hadn't spoken with her that much prior to this.

Then, as if realizing what she was doing, Lia quickly pulled away her hands and cleared her throat. "I-I'm sorry. We haven't gotten to know each other that much. That was rude of me."

"Rude? It was fine." Dante bit back his tongue, cursing at himself for how awkward he just sounded.

"Then...I'll just say 'strange'." The black haired woman smiled at Dante one last time before muttering a soft 'goodbye.' She quickly left the balcony in a brisk walk and back into the treehouse. Lia let out a pained sigh as she buried her bandaged eyes into her hands. While it was relieving to have touched the smooth plains of her son's face, Lia couldn't get over the fact that to him, she was "dead."

"Dante..." she whispered as she cried softly.

_"Must be difficult to fight with that baby in your arms." _

Lia furrowed her brow at the sound of maniacal laughter inside of her head.

_"How does it feel knowing that your husband is dead? How does it feel knowing that I was the one that killed him?" _

A sudden rattling and thumping sound alerted Lia and brought her back to reality. Cautiously, Lia walked to the origin of the sound. She found herself walking into the direction of Dante's room and she heard more rattling and rustling from inside.

"Hello?"

She opened up the door and immediately, she recognized the body heat and breathing to be Mary's.

"What are you doing in here?" Lia questioned the paladin sternly.

"Oh!" Mary slowly got up from Dante's bed. "Oh no! I must have the wrong room! I thought this was mine! My bad!" She hopped off and strode out of the room, brushing past Lia's shoulder on purpose. The blue haired warrior narrowed her eyes in annoyance back at Lia as she walked away.

"You came into his room with an intention."

"What?" Mary asked with a scoff. "That's ridiculous! How are you so sure of yourself-?"

"Your heart rate sped up just now. You should get better at lying." Lia turned to face Mary, who turned red in the face from being caught so easily. "And I'm not falling for your fake innocent act either. The sound of your voice has been off ever since I heard you."

Mary glared at Lia hatefully and clenched her fists. "Don't come butting in between me and Dante! We're partners! Who are you to come snooping in anyways?"

The fire mage raised her head and simply decided to drop the conversation there. She walked away from the warrior, but just before she did, she stopped and said, "I'm not sure what your intentions are, but if they are indeed impure and you try to make one move on Dante to harm him, I'll make sure you regret it."

* * *

><p>Alice stared at the wall in front of her. She stared at the dull brown streaks that ran across it. It was the only thing she could do.<p>

Her body was tired and worn out from struggling with her restraints for hours, trying to break free. It was all useless though. The chains did not weaken in even the slightest and the cuffs around her wrists only caused her pale skin to be bruised and cut from her struggles.

She was hungry as well, but she was slowly starting to let go of that feeling as time wore on with no food or water.

She stopped calling out for her friends because she knew that no one would come and save her. She knew that no one could hear her for that matter...

It felt as if she had been in there for days now, but she couldn't tell for sure. She had no view of the outside and no way of knowing whether it was daytime or nighttime. Alice hunched her shoulders and brought her knees up to her chest. She hugged them tightly.

_"I want to go home..." _

The door to her cell suddenly swung open.

"Release her," she could hear Krylin order.

Before Alice could get up to her feet, she was grabbed by her arms and roughly pulled up. The soldiers used a small key to release her from her cuffs and pulled her towards Krylin.

The necromancer smirked at the fear in Alice's big blue eyes. "What's the matter? There's nothing to be afraid of, is there?" She grabbed Alice's jaw and the warrior let out a frightened whimper. "You were so "brave" when you fought me back then. But I suppose that's only because you weren't conscious of your own actions." Krylin leaned down to whisper into Alice's ear. "You're nothing without your precious Dante."

Alice widened her eyes and stuttered out, "th-that's not true!"

"Oh?" Krylin's blood red lips turned into an amused smile. "Then tell me. Why is it that all of your companions and friends have all advanced and grown stronger while you remained nearly the same as you were three years ago? You may be able to control the power of the dragons, but you still can't gain full control of the energy inside of you."

"I-I can! I know I can!"

"The only reason you were able to nearly defeat me was because of your feelings towards Dante when he died. That wasn't on your own."

"I..."

Seeing the doubt and diminishing confidence Alice was experiencing, Krylin smirked and ordered the soldiers to follow her. "You are naive and foolish. You know nothing and the Aegis kept you in a protected little bubble while you pined pitifully for your loved one."

Even though Alice knew those words were from the enemy, they stung as they pierced through her. Was there some sort of a truth behind them? Indeed, Alice did watch over the years as both Ada and Minn honed their skills while she was still held back by Dante's death. She felt as if they were moving forward without her and she felt as if there was no one that would come back to retrieve her.

She felt as if she was all alone for all these years.

As Alice was still immersed deeply into her thoughts, Krylin walked forward and ordered her soldiers, "bring her to the Inner Sanctum. I believe we'll have to test to see if the World Tree's seed is inside of her."

* * *

><p>Eternus stood at the mangled roots of the World Tree. She watched impassively as one of the roots began to rot. "It's dying..." she muttered, touching the mossy bark." The fairy turned and looked down at Krylin and Alice. "Did you bring me the seed?"<p>

"Of course." Krylin roughly took Alice by the shoulder and shoved her forward.

The warrior, left speechless after what Krylin had said to her earlier, simply trembled as she fearfully looked up at Eternus. Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock when she realized how familiar she looked.

_"I've...seen her before...somewhere..." _

Alice followed the fairy with her eyes as Eternus hopped down the many roots before she came face to face with the warrior.

"Come." Eternus held out her hand to the blue haired girl.

Hesitantly, Alice clutched at the white fabric of her shirt with one hand as she reached out with her other hand. She touched the fairy's frail, pale hand and immediately, she was whisked away to one of the higher roots where Eternus was before.

Her body felt light as she and the fairy landed on the mossy root.

"I had a connection with you in your dreams," Eternus muttered as she stared up at Alice. "The Tree must find you interesting. It has called out to you."

"I-" Alice felt her eyes drift upwards and found herself drawn to the many golden fruits dangling from the Tree's branches.

Seeing her fixation on them, Eternus looked up and then back at Alice. "Those fruits hold the life's memories of all those living in this world. There is many, but...it seems as though you have interest in only one..." Eternus looked over at where Alice was staring at and she saw the small dangling fruit that was barely hanging onto the tree. The fairy waved her hand and a vine rose up out of the clear spring water below and wrapped around the small golden fruit.

The vine came over to Alice and dropped the fruit into her hands.

"Eat it," the green haired fairy whispered. "Unless you don't want to face the truth."

"The...truth?"

Alice stared at the dimly glowing fruit in her hands and gently ran her thumb over its smooth exterior. Slowly, Alice brought it up to her lips and gently opened up her mouth. She closed her eyes shut as she took a bite out of the fruit. Initially, she couldn't taste anything. Then almost immediately, she felt a rush of sensations fill her body and mind. It made the world around her spin and blur until she blacked out.

Eternus caught her in her arms and Krylin shouted from below, "what's happened? Is she not the one?"

"That is for the Tree to decide," Eternus muttered, setting Alice down on the roots. The tree wrapped its fibers and vines around Alice. Slowly, she sank into the roots of the tree and disappeared from sight.

* * *

><p><em>Where am I...? <em>

Alice held her head as she slowly got up. Her head ached slightly, but it wasn't anything too serious. She looked around and saw a dull light flickering beside her. At first, she didn't realize at what she was looking at, but then as her vision focused more, she realized that it was an array of candles.

Curiously, she got up to her feet and walked over to it. As she got closer, she could see that the array was set up over various runes and circles that were carved into the ground below.

"What is this...?" she asked herself softly, standing in the middle of it.

"Bring him in," she heard Krylin's voice say.

Alice ran to hide, but even before she could find a hiding spot, Krylin had already laid eyes on her. But the strange thing was, she didn't react at the sight of Alice.

"Place him in the circle. Make sure you don't disrupt the array."

She stood just outside the array and stared at the long dangling chain that hung above it. She then heard the soldiers bring someone in and Alice gasped softly at who it was.

"Dante...!" Alice cried out. She tried to run towards him as the soldiers tied his arms with the chain hanging above, but her feet didn't move from the ground. Confused at what was happening, Alice saw that Dante also didn't react to her voice.

She saw Krylin holding a bowl of some sort of mixture and walk up to Dante. The necromancer drew some sort of a symbol behind him and Alice saw the discomfort in his face. It probably hurt him.

"What's happening? Dante?" Alice said as she saw Krylin and him exchanging words.

As Krylin finally walked away, she heard her say, "keep it on for a good minute. The mark needs to be deep."

Alice's heart hammered away at her chest when she saw one of the soldiers walk over to a crude fireplace filled with hot ashes. From there, he pulled out a red hot branding iron with an intricate circle design. She trembled as she began to realize what was going to happen.

"Dante! Watch out!"

Just as she said these words, the iron was pressed onto his back. Alice watched helplessly as Dante cried out in pain.

"Stop it!" she shouted, finally being able to run towards him. However, when Alice tried to pull Dante away, she simply fell right through him. Alice stumbled and fell to her knees as she passed through his body. "Huh...?"

Alice could still hear him screaming and she quickly got up to her feet. "Dante!" She trembled and felt tears sting at her eyes as she was forced to watch him in agony. "Stop it..." she cried as she could see the smoke rising from where his back and the iron met.

_"Stop it, stop it...stop it!" _

Finally the soldier removed the iron from Dante's back and immediately, the archer grew limp. As they released him from his binds, Alice could see the grotesque mark of his burnt flesh. She held her hands over her mouth and cried as Dante fell forward weakly.

"Dante..."

As soon as the soldiers began to pick him up by his arms, the scene changed immediately. Alice felt a rush of air fly past her and she was whisked away to another location.

Again, she saw the array of candles and the circles before her and she saw Dante knelt down in the middle of it. Krylin stood outside of the circle in front of him with her arms held out. Alice could hear her quickly chant some spells in an ancient language. Slowly, a purple aura surrounded Krylin, then surrounded Dante as well.

The runes and circles beneath him lit up.

Krylin's voice grew louder with each second and Alice could see Dante writhing in pain. He fought against his restraints and struggled, but with no avail. He finally threw his head back and let out a cry of pain. Alice felt the desire to do something, anything, but she knew that she couldn't. It seemed as though she was not a visible participant in any of this.

Then suddenly, Krylin let out a scream and stepped back as if something had hurt her.

"What happened?" she hissed out as she stared down at her hands. Krylin whipped around to look at Dante and saw him slowly getting up from the ground, free from his restraints. He kept his head down and his body trembled from the pain.

As Alice watched, she blinked in confusion when she heard a low chuckle from Dante.

"Surprised?" he asked as he raised his head. He had a devious grin on his face and the look in his eyes were different than that of Dante's. Coupled with this and the strange tone of his voice, Alice automatically recognized it to be the man she had fought in Orbis Park.

"You...don't tell me." Krylin stepped back, her long purple dress swaying slightly. She looked, not terrified, but scared to a certain extent.

Dante chuckled again and smirked. "What's the matter? You don't look too happy to see me. Oh! I know...you must be surprised at how _I_ ended up in this body instead of you!" He stood directly in front of Krylin and gave her a slight bow, although it was done in a mocking manner.

"I should thank you though. After that old man Grendel sealed my soul away, I thought I would never escape the Underworld. I suppose your abilities to raise the dead brought me back here. But...it would be foolish of me to restart my reign in this body when my soul is still unstable." He reached out to gently cup Krylin's face. "I thank you for continuing my legacy."

"Your legacy? I've started my own! No one will even remember you!" Krylin shouted back angrily. "No one remembers your name, Xeros."

"The Aegis has hidden it away from the world quite well, but their efforts to protect will all soon be in vain. I will lie in dormancy for now inside of this boy's body, but you can be sure that your reign will soon come to an end while mine is only beginning."

Alice, still watching, kept her eyes on the two until she saw Xeros turn his head into her direction. Her heart sped up when she saw him walking towards her.

_"He can't see me...can he?" _

But it seemed as though he was looking and walking straight at her. Alice glanced back at Krylin and it seemed as though she had completely stopped moving as if she was frozen in time.

Alice trembled in fear as she looked up into Dante's face as he stared down at her.

"You don't need to be frightened of me, little lamb," Xeros cooed as he gently ran his fingers through Alice's hair.

The warrior tried to step back, but was stopped when he grabbed her wrist and roughly pulled her towards him. Alice was held against his chest and she shivered when he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and whispered, "I think your soul would be perfect for me to devour. You see, I'm still in need of power and I think your soul is the most suitable, perhaps even the most desirable."

Alice parted her lips and dared to question him. "W-Why...?" She tried to get away when he pulled her head back by grabbing a fistful of her hair. Alice squeezed her eyes shut and let out stifled cries of pain when he bit into her pale neck.

"You...contain the dark energy I need. I need your that impure soul of yours, the one tainted by the power of the Beholder."

She screamed and tried to get away when she felt blood flowing out of her neck. Alice didn't know what he was talking about and she didn't want to find out. All she wanted to do was to get away.

"Stop!" she cried out loudly.

Suddenly she felt him let go of her. Alice fell to her feet and felt another rush of air fly past her. She squeezed her eyes shut and when she reopened them, she found herself in a new setting. She looked around and saw that she was in a dark cell. Alice turned to one wall in particular and saw dull brown streaks running across it. It was the cell she was in earlier.

As she stepped back, she heard something behind her. Quickly, she turned around, thinking that it was Xeros, but instead she found herself looking at Dante. He was sitting in the corner, leaning against the wall with a listless gaze.

Hesitantly, Alice walked closer to him to see him better and she saw many scars, cuts, and bruises on his body. His lower lip was cut and bleeding, along with several abrasions on his face. She knelt down next to him and gently called out, "Dante...?"

She knew that he probably couldn't hear her still, but Alice tried again anyways.

"Dante?"

"...Alice...?"

The blue haired girl raised her head at the sound of her name. The hope that was inside of her slowly died away again when she saw him weakly looking around, not really focused on her. It must have been just a coincidence.

Dante simply chuckled softly and let out a breathy sigh. "I miss you so much and now I'm hearing things."

Alice leaned forward and reached out to touch him, but before she could, she hesitated a little, remembering that she would probably just pass right through him. Despite this, she still reached out and wrapped her arms around him. Alice was surprised when she didn't simply pass through him like before.

It was incredibly painful to see him like this, beaten, torn, and left to die in the dark. Alice cried softly when she realized how he must have felt during those years after the final battle. She leaned her head against his shoulder, although he didn't react. As her head rested there, she felt as if she could feel everything he was feeling.

She felt loneliness, desperation, hopelessness, sadness, and heartbreak.

"You probably can't hear this," she heard him say.

Alice gently tightened her arms around his waist and closed her eyes.

"You obviously can't," he said with a wry chuckle. "But..." Dante sighed and closed his eyes weakly. "I still haven't really apologized to you for what I said...back in the prisons. I didn't mean any of it, you know? How could I have meant anything I said to you back then?"

Alice felt more and more tears flow out from her closed eyes as she listened to him. His voice sounded so frail and weak. It sounded as if he was close to dying.

"How could I have said those things to you seriously?" Dante laughed dryly. "You know...how happy I was when I heard you say that you loved me? I felt like giving up and just hugging you right then and there." He laughed again, but this time he coughed violently at the end.

The warrior saw the blood on the palm of his hand as he pulled it away from his mouth. Alice buried her face into his shoulder, torn by the pain he was going through.

"I wanted to protect you from Krylin and from what might happen to me. But I thought I was protecting you more, when I was just hurting you more...I'm a real fool...aren't I? I just wish...I could go back and change it all. That's probably my only regret now..."

Alice closed her eyes and held him tightly when she could no longer hear his weak breathing. "Stupid Dante...what is there to change?" she whispered.

Finally, she felt as if she could understand the reason why Dante lost his memories. He was trying to suppress the painful memories he had since he met her. His only desire was to go back to fix all of it, but when that was impossible, he chose to forget them completely.

"But, you forgot all the good memories too, Dante."

Alice could imagine all of the horrors, the tortures, and the pain that Krylin must have put on him, physically and mentally. Though she only got glimpses of it, Alice figured that was the last push that caused Dante's amnesia.

"I'm sorry Dante..."

She could feel the surroundings grow warmer.

"...I was being selfish."

Behind her eyelids, Alice could see a bright light.

"None of this was my fault or your fault. It was ours."

* * *

><p>"What are you doing?" Krylin shouted at Eternus as the fairy dropped Alice gently into the clear spring water at the base of the tree.<p>

"This girl is not the World Tree's seed. She is the holder of dark energy. If the tree were to use her, it would die immediately."

As Alice floated on top of the water, Eternus gently touched her forehead and the blue haired girl slowly sank into the depths.

"I still needed her!"

Eternus turned to Krylin and muttered, "however, I don't require her anymore. You are free to go search for her again. The waterways of Victoria Island are all connected to this spring. But I suggest you focus your energy on finding the seed. The World Tree's well being is far more important that your attempts to find a suitable container for your soul."

* * *

><p>"...Alice?...Alice...?"<p>

Xin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the warrior slowly waking up. "Thank the goddesses!" He brought her up into his arms and held her tightly. "I thought you were dead!"

It took Alice a while to realize that she wasn't in the past anymore. She turned her head slightly and asked softly, "where am I?"

The crusader pulled away. "In the Dungeons. I was on my way towards Krylin's castle, but I saw you on the banks of this river! Good thing you ended up here or else you would have gotten swept away into the Swamps!"

"What were you doing here?" she asked him, starting to very grateful for his appearance.

"Actually, Athena sent me, Ivan, and Minna to search for some allies with the rebel groups, but we got separated on our way here."

Alice still had more questions for him, but when they both heard the sound of soldiers talking, Xin quickly helped her up to her feet.

"We should probably find someplace else. It's not safe here."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Well that was a long chapter! _

_Sorry for not updating on Sunday like I promised! I was working on my drawings and sorta lost track of time. Plus, I procrastinated on my schoolwork hurhur ~_

_Anyhoo...hope you guys enjoyed! Ivan and Minna will be back in the next chapter AND...Dante will also be "back." ;)_

_I feel as if a lot of you will have questions after this chapter, so I'll have a Q and A section at the end of the next chapter. (If anyone has anything to ask) _

_So, as always, please review! You guys are doing really well with them motivational reviews! :) Made me extremely pleased to read each and every single one of them! Planning the next update to be on Saturday/Sunday, if I get lots of reviews again :) If not, see you guys in one/two weeks!_


	16. Lost Memories

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 16 - Lost Memory**

"Absolutely not."

Minna drew back in her seat at the stern voice belonging to Bastille. "I...I don't see why not!" She stood up and placed both of her hands down on the table. "The Aegis aren't looking for enemies! Yes, we're sorry that we had abandoned Victoria Island, but there was no choice! The civilian casualties would have been great and there is never any need to create unnecessary deaths!"

Bastille closed his eyes and shook his head. His monocle flashed slightly as it caught some of the sun's rays. "Do not try to justify your actions. The Aegis left when they were needed the most. Although the rebel groups have several strong individuals, the Aegis has its numbers and regardless of the power and size of Krylin's force, you shouldn't have retreated."

The cleric was irritated with how stubborn the leader of the Silent Crusade was being, but at the same time, she knew that there was a certain truth behind his words. Because of this, Minna lowered her head in defeat. It seemed as though there was no way to convince Bastille to allow an alliance with the Aegis.

"The Aegis aren't responsible for individuals that chose to stay behind."

Minna blinked and turned her attention to Ivan, who sat beside her. The blond pirate stood up and calmly stated, "the Aegis chose the best course of actions based upon the advantages and disadvantages. It would have been foolish, not to mention ignorant, to stay behind and risk civilian casualties."

"Ivan..." Minna said as she looked up at him. Never before did she see him so outspoken. He had always been one that was "silent" so it surprised her to see him saying anything at something like this.

The brown haired Bastille cleared his throat and retaliated. "Then why not let the members of the Aegis stay behind and send the civilians to Ossyria?"

"Because they still need protection. Ossyria may not be under Krylin's control, but it's still dangerous and it will fall under her control if you don't help the Aegis right now."

Left speechless, Bastille turned away and sighed heavily in thought. Behind him, both Crow and Starling looked to each other in curiosity and nervousness of the outcome.

Seeing as how he needed a final push, Ivan leaned forward slightly and said, "I'm sure we both have the same goal and that's to restore peace and balance to Victoria Island. That won't happen unless we work together to end Krylin's reign."

Finally, the middle aged man said under his breath, "I will think about it and give you two the answer by tomorrow. You're welcome to stay for the night."

Bastille left, along with Crow and Starling into the deep recesses of the City Hall building. When they were out of the small conference room, Minna hesitantly turned to Ivan and stuttered out, "th-thanks." For the first time in a while, she felt awkward and nervous around him.

"It was just something that had to be said," Ivan muttered softly, turning away from her.

Minna lowered her head sadly as she heard him starting to leave. "Ivan," she said, stopping him. "I'm...sorry."

"Forget about it. It's fine."

"Huh?"

Ivan kept his back towards her as he talked to her. "There's nothing to be sorry about."

The orange haired cleric bunched up the smooth silk of her blue Bazura dress in her tiny fists and shouted, "then why won't you look at me?" Minna's bottom lip trembled as she tried to hold back her tears, but they overflowed from her red wine colored eyes.

Ivan heard her sniffling softly and he felt a slight pain inside of his chest.

Quickly, Minna wiped away her tears and pretended that she wasn't crying. "Ever since we got here, you've been really stubborn and weird!"

"_I'm _weird?" Ivan finally turned around to face her. "The only one that's been acting weird is you."

"I'm not-!"

"You won't tell me what's going on, you pretend like everything's okay when they're not, you act as if nothing's bothering you when something clearly is. Even back in the subway tunnels, you wouldn't tell me the real reason why you got angry with me."

"Because even if I tell you, you won't understand!" Minna yelled, finally giving into her tears and crying.

"Understand what...?"

Looking up at him with her big, teary eyes, Minna cried out softly, "I'm so worried about you all the time! You almost died during our fight with Krylin and I still think about what a close call that was for you. Then you even lost your regeneration abilities and I can't help, but think that with one wrong move, you'll be taken away from me. That's why I studied healing magic so hard during the last few years. I thought it was the most I could do in case something happened to you."

Ivan began to understand that all the things that Minna did and said to him before were all for his sake. He also knew that this wasn't something that was easy to express and perhaps...that was the reason why Minna stumbled over her own words back then.

The cleric's soft cries were silenced as Ivan took her into a protective embrace.

"Didn't I tell you before Minna?" he whispered gently, stroking the top of her head. "I'm alive now, that's what matters."

"But-"

Ivan pulled away slightly and shrugged off his outer brown longcoat. He let it fall to the ground and next went the dark brown blouse he wore.

"I-Ivan?" Minna asked nervously as she watched him slip the blouse over his head and take off his brown tricorne hat. She blushed softly when he held her close.

"Listen," he told her softly, holding her head against his chest. "Can you hear it?"

She gently leaned in close and pressed her ear against his chest. It was low, but Minna heard it, his thumping heartbeats. "I can."

"This is proof that I'm alive, next to you."

Minna closed her eyes and listened to it.

"You will never have a day when you can't hear it...so, don't worry about me." Ivan closed his eyes as well and buried his nose into her sweet smelling hair. "I'll never die as long as you're alive."

As soon as Minna pulled away to look up at him, he caught her lips in a sweet kiss. She shivered at the feeling of heat rushing through her body as he pulled away. "Really?" she asked him before he kissed her again.

"Really."

"Promise?"

The cleric felt him pick her up as he continued to kiss her. She heard him pick up his coat and toss it onto the conference table. She then felt him ease her on top of it. "Ivan...? We-We should go back to our rooms, shouldn't we-_mm!_"

Ivan kissed her more heatedly than he had earlier. Gently, his fingertips trailed up her smooth arms and hooked his fingers underneath the silk of her dress. As he eased it off of her thin body, Minna trembled, but offered up no retaliation. Instead, she smiled at him as he pulled down the dress completely off of her body.

Minna giggled nervously as she attempted to cover herself up with her arms as he looked down at her body. When she saw the hesitance in his eyes, Minna raised her hands to cup his face. "It's okay?" she said gently.

He never felt anything like it before. Everything he was feeling right now, anxiety, the nervousness, the desire, and the need to be with Minna, were things that he had never felt in the years that he had been alive. Everything he did to her was out of instinctive behavior. He didn't know if he should do it, but he did it anyways. It felt surreal to him. Their linked bodies, her face contorted in pleasure and pain, all the while, whispering words of encouragement and love to him; Ivan didn't know anything like this could exist. Such sweet bliss of not only fulfillment, but also the happiness knowing that someone actually, truely, genuinely wanted him.

Minna tiredly reached up to hug him. She buried her face into the crook of his sweat covered neck and closed her eyes. Despite the sweat, she still liked how he smelled of burnt gunpowder. "I can hear it still," she whispered, smiling.

The pirate leaned down more and rested his head on her naked chest. His heavy breathing from their love-making calmed down slowly as he relaxed from the sound of her heart.

The strawberry blond released his ponytail by pulling away at the black ribbon that tied it together. Minna tiredly, but happily, ran her nimble fingers through his shoulder length hair. "Promise that I can still hear it?" she asked, kissing him softly on the ear.

Ivan pulled away and whispered with confidence just before he kissed her, "I promise..."

* * *

><p>"Are you okay, Alice?" Xin asked the blue haired girl as they continued their walk through the dense Dungeons. "Do you need to rest?"<p>

Alice shook her head slowly. "S-Sorry...I just feel a little bit faint..." she stammer uneasily.

"You haven't eaten for all this time, right? Here." Xin set her down gently on the mossy ground and handed her a wrapped loaf of bread he had in his bag.

"Isn't this for you?" she asked him as she took the food.

"Don't worry about me. The one that needs it most is you. You look like you're about to kneel over right now!" he exclaimed worriedly as he brought his hand up to touch her forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever for now. Just stay here for now and eat."

Xin got up to his feet and Alice curiously looked up at him. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to scout the surrounding area a little bit. We need to find a safe way out of this place. I'll be close by though. If you hear or see anything, just shout."

"Okay."

She watched him as he walked away, until he disappeared into the thick cover of the forest. Once he left, Alice turned her attention back down to the loaf of bread in her hands and slowly unwrapped the cloth that was wrapped around it. Almost immediately, her mouth watered at the sight of the brown loaf and she hungrily wolfed it down.

As soon as she was down to the small crumbs, Alice, content with her full stomach, dusted herself off of stray bread crumbs and folded the cloth in her hands.

She felt as if it was an extreme stroke of luck to have found Xin in this dire situation. What were the odds of her even being rescued from Krylin's castle that was in Victoria Island, that was actually not within the reach of the Aegis. However, she was well aware that she wasn't in complete safety just yet, neither was Xin.

They were still in the heart of Victoria Island, in the midst of Krylin's territory. There was no doubt in her mind that they could be under attack at any given moment.

Alice brought her hands up and looked down at her peach colored palms. She knew that she couldn't rely on Xin for defense as it would only hinder him.

"Alice," Xin said as he walked up to her. He kept his voice down, not wanting to alert any of Krylin's troops if they were nearby. "I found a way out, but it's pretty heavily guarded by soldiers. It looks like they don't want anyone getting in here real badly."

"Then what do we do?"

"I couldn't see an alternative route as far as I could tell."

"Can't we just go back in through the Sewers? You said that all the streams lead into that place."

Xin shook his head, dismissing the idea immediately. "It's too risky. The Swamps can get really dark at night and they don't exactly provide a great place for us to hide in that's on dry land. Plus, there are a lot of strange creatures lurking in there."

"Oh, well then...what should we do?" asked Alice, wondering if he had a plan. "We can't fight them head on?"

Once again, he shook his head. "No. Even if we manage to get you a usable spear or polearm to fight, they have a whole garrison set up at the mouth of the Dungeons. We'll be greatly outnumbered. But..." He smiled slyly and leaned in close to Alice. "I'm in the reconnaissance and we're trained to be stealthy and to come up with "creative" means of battling the enemy. Listen, I have a plan..."

* * *

><p>"Oh! You look really weak, Dante! Are you alright?" Mary exclaimed, her voice dripping with concern and worry.<p>

The archer waved it off. "I'm fine. I just didn't get much of a chance to sleep last night."

She whined as she clung onto his arm. "That's why you should have slept with me-!"

"Enough," Lia said sternly, separating Mary from Dante. "This is no time to be acting immature. We're on a quest, Mary. I suggest you start acting like a proper martyr."

As the paladin angrily glared at Lia as she walked ahead of them, Dante felt slightly relieved that she had stepped in. It wasn't like he disliked Mary. It was more like he felt somewhat...uneasy around her. He figured it was because of what happened between them two nights ago, nothing more.

"I sense a bit of energy up past the mountains over there." Lia pointed off into the distance where there were a few gray colored mountains shrouded in the thin white clouds. "I can't quite tell if it's the energy of the seed, but it's the only source of energy I'm feeling as of this moment."

They continued to walk on, soon leaving the lush forests of Leafre and heading into the rather "dead" surroundings of the Minar Forest.

Dante looked around at the dreary surroundings and noticed several skeletons of deceased dragons lying around them. "This isn't like a typical forest, is it?"

"I suppose so. This area used to be populated with many of the more peaceful dragons, but ever since Horntail came in power, many of the peaceful dragons have been killed off and all that remain are those that are hostile towards humans and other species."

All three of them grew alert at the sound of loud screeching which echoed off the mountains.

"Stay on your guard," Lia whispered as she tightly held her Evil Wings staff. "We're near the nest of the dragons."

Dante released his Dark Arund from its hold and placed his two fingers on the strings. A bright arrow formed itself on the bow and he held it there, pulling back on it slightly just so that he could be ready to shoot at any time.

Mary released her Timeless Bellocce blunt weapon from her back and held the heavy weapon in her hands. "I don't think there's anything to worry about! There's only Dark Wyverns around in this area! They hardly present a threat to us!"

The fire mage seemed to be on edge, more so than what was necessary.

"Is something wrong?" Dante asked.

"I have a feeling that we're being followed." Lia turned back towards them and bowed her head, as if she was in deep thought. Finally, she let out a soft sigh of frustration, throwing her hands down to her sides. "I can't feel anyone around. It's hard for me to "see" the dragons here as well. They don't give off heat as much as you or me, unless they breath out fire."

"How could a huge dragon be following us without us knowing?" Mary scoffed, trying to brush off Lia's alertness as nothing more than something ridiculous.

Suddenly, Dante narrowed his red eyes at the sound of a low growl. He whipped around towards the large rock formation that was next to them and yelled, "get back!"

Almost immediately, the rock formation cracked and exploded. All three of them fell to the ground as large fragments of stone flew past their heads. Debris and dust covered them as Dante got up to see what it was that attacked them.

In front of him was a very large, red dragon. Its razor sharp claws and horns glistened against the dull sunlight as it landed on the ground with a thunderous sound.

"Wh-What is that?" Mary screamed, frightened by the huge dragon that was standing over them.

"It's Manon!" Lia shouted. "Be careful!"

The large dragon swung down its massive tail down on Lia, who quickly teleported away. She reappeared on a rocky ledge that stood at eye level with Manon. Holding out her hands in front of her, she summoned a large fire circle in front of her. The tip of her Evil Wings staff glowed a bright orange as she yelled out, "rise from the burning land, Ifrit!"

From the circle array, the fire spirit Ifrit arose from the ground. It's body pulsated with magma and fire energy as it floated in front of Lia.

"Attack, Ifrit!"

Lia swung her staff down sharply and the large fire spirit swiftly flew towards Manon.

As it distracted the large dragon from Dante and Mary, the archer created some distance between him and the dragon. He then knelt down on one knee and held out one arm out to his side. A circular array similar to Lia'a appearing beneath him.

"Burn the Heavens, spirit Phoenix!"

A large red bird appeared and perched itself on Dante's outstretched arm. It's sharp talons didn't seem to bother him as he stood up from the ground.

"Go," he ordered. Right away, the phoenix let out a loud cry and soared towards Ifrit, helping it fight the large dragon.

As the two fire spirits fought Manon, the dragon let out a loud roar, causing the surroundings to shake. Mary cringed at the loud sound and fell back against the cliff walls. "How are we supposed to fight this?"

Lia teleported away from the ledge she was standing on and back down to the ground next to Dante.

"We shouldn't spend too much of our energy on him," she stated, "we still have a long ways to go until we get to the energy source and there's no telling what we may encounter as we go closer towards Horntail."

Faced with this predicament, Dante looked back up at their summons. "It looks like they won't hold out much longer. We'll need to land a critical attack."

"That'll have to be you. A dragon's weak spot is its heart and Mary can't get up there to attack it."

"What about you?"

"My magic won't be able to do enough damage. Dragon skins are impervious to magic. Although I can cause some degree of pain to Manon, it'll have to be your physical attacks that'll land the final blow."

Dante nodded and took a sturdy steel tipped arrow out from the quiver on his back. "My Inferno might do the most damage to it." He turned to Lia and asked, "could you help me with that Lia?"

The archmage smiled confidently at him. "Of course. But we'll need a good perch for the final blow. Any ideas?"

The dry wind blew through the dead landscape as Dante looked around for a nice ledge. He looked over at the one where Lia was on earlier and shouted, "over there! Where you were before. It's perfect, but we'll need to bring Manon closer."

"I can lure him if you'd like," Mary piped up.

"Perfect. Let's go." Lia tipped her staff down at an angle and teleported back up the ledge.

Dante looked up at his phoenix, still dodging and fighting Manon. He stuck the tip of his thumb and index finger into his mouth and whistled loudly. The phoenix immediately darted away from the large red dragon and down towards Dante. In a fell swoop, Dante grabbed onto one of it's legs and was flown off towards the ledge.

It dropped him off at the top, letting him land down beside Lia.

"Get ready. Mary will lure it towards us any minute now," the fire mage said to him as she held her hands out in front of her. A circular array of runes and arcane designs appeared before Lia and a burst of fire materialized before it.

Dante brought his bow up and pulled back the arrow, aiming it at Manon, who was following Mary on the ground. As he held his arrow there, waiting for the right change to strike, he suddenly had a flashback.

_"Something's not right." _He could hear Cedric's voice off in the distance.

A sharp pain tore through his body, originating from the strange scar he had on his abdomen. Dante gasped as he dropped his bow and arrow on the ground.

Lia turned towards him. "Dante? Dante, what's the matter?"

_"...Dante!" _He heard Alice's voice, screaming as he saw her running towards him. He was falling, falling to his knees, then eventually falling down on his stomach.

"Dante! Get up!" Lia shouted, dismissing her Fire Demon spell and kneeling down beside him. She shook him, but he remained unresponsive. "Dante!"

The black haired man remained on the ground, his body unmoving and his eyes, widened and staring off into the distance. His breathing was irregular as he shivered in fear and pain.

_"I don't want to die. Even though I said it like that, I really don't want to die." _

His eyes slowly closed up just as he saw what looked like Alice looking down at him, crying and saying something to him, although he couldn't hear anything. Finally, he shut his eyes completely, blacking out.

All the while, Lia continued to try and get him to awaken. "Dante!" she shouted, shaking him. Her attention was diverted back to Manon, when the large dragon let out an earsplitting roar.

"Watch out!" she could hear Mary yell out from the ground.

Lia picked up the sound of something cutting through the air and quickly, she attempted to put up a shield."

"Mana Guard-!"

Before she could finish the spell, Manon's tail easily broke through the incomplete barrier and swatted the two off the ledge. Both Lia and Dante crashed into the cliff side of another ledge and they fell to the ground.

Lia felt pain shoot through her body as she tried to get back up to her feet. Although she didn't manage to cast the full barrier, the mana guard did relieve her of some heavier physical injuries.

"Dante...?" she asked, coughing as she tried to gain back her senses. She crawled around the rubble, feeling around for him until she finally felt his hand. Her breath quickening, Lia went up to his side and took him in her arms. She grew panicked when she felt something warm and slightly slimey on his forehead. He was bleeding.

Lia fumbled with the buckle of her potion pouch and pulled out an elixir. She pulled off the cork and held Dante close as she tilted his head back to give him the elixir.

From behind her, she could hear Manon roaring loudly and she assumed that Mary was holding it off by herself.

"Come on, Dante...please wake up," Lia whispered desperately. She gave him sparse amount of the elixir at a time, trying not to make him choke on it.

* * *

><p><em>"You did make me happy!...I don't want anyone else!" <em>

_"I love you Alice, I mean it. I meant it all the other times I said it too." _

It was all coming back to him.

_"This is fantastic, my martyr's clueless and hostile." _

_"You...don't think because you're special you could insult me. I'm your martyr and I won't protect you if you continue to-!" _

_"I don't need one, idiot. I'm fine by myself." _

The past years that he had lost, the ones that he had forgotten were rushing into his head like a cascading waterfall. All of the memories he had with Alice, all of the good and bad ones were flooding into him.

He found himself at what appeared to be a clear spring. The surroundings were peaceful and bright with birds chirping away happily as they perched themselves within the lush, lone tree that stood towering over him.

"She chose to save you."

Dante turned around to see a small female fairy standing a few feet away from him. He blinked, in curiosity rather than in hostility as the fairy approached him. In her hands she held a small glowing fruit.

"All of these painful memories that are store in this small fruit...are you sure you want them back?" she asked, letting her light green eyes rest upon the archer.

Without saying anything, Dante took the fruit from the fairy's small hands and held it in his own. He turned it over and saw a bite mark on it already. As he ran his fingers over the teeth marks, he immediately knew that it was Alice.

"I want to," he muttered softly, bringing the fruit up to his lips.

"Then eat it and you'll be restored of those memories."

Dante closed his eyes as he bit down on the fruit. Instantly, his senses felt rejuvenated and refreshed. A rush of sensations raced through his body as he fell to the ground. He felt his mind drifting away as he let the fruit roll out of his hand.

"You both desire to understand each other and you both went through incredible pains. Even though you can finally connect with one another...I wonder if such a love can stem from this relationship...?"

* * *

><p>"...He's waking up!"<p>

"...Dante...!"

His vision was blurry, but it slowly cleared up. He saw a hint of blue looking down at him and at first, he whispered, "Alice...?"

As he blinked more, clearing up his vision, Dante realized that it was Mary staring down at him. His head still hurt, but he managed to sit up.

"Thank goodness!" Mary exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. "Me and Lia thought you were dead! You've been unconscious for so long!"

"_Ugh..._where am I?" Dante said, groaning as he held his throbbing head. "Weren't we fighting Manon?" He looked around and saw that they were back inside of the treehouse that the Halfings had given them in Leafre.

"Don't worry about Manon! I managed to freeze him with a bit of ice strikes and we escaped with Lia's help!"

Dante touched the bandages that were wrapped around his forehead. "What happened to the quest?" he asked.

"We abandoned it," Lia answered, coming into the room. "Strangely, the energy that I had felt before had disappeared as soon as we were hit off the ledge. If we can't track it, there's no point in us being here any longer, especially when we still need a cleric to look over our injuries."

"Are you alright?" Dante asked in concern.

"I'm fine for now," the fire mage said with a smile. "But since you're up, let's get back to Orbis. Oh, and Dante, you're lucky that your bow wasn't damaged at all."

The archer looked over at the foot of his bed and saw his Dark Arund leaning against the bedpost. It didn't even have a scratch on it and it's black luster was still going strong. He chuckled. "I guess the blacksmith really did fortify it with quality materials."

Lia laughed softly. "I suppose so. Well, we'd better get ready to leave. The last ship to leave Leafre will be here in 20 minutes."

As Lia left the room, Dante got out of bed. Mary helped him stay on his feet until he got used to his own weight.

"You must really like her..." she muttered, holding him by the arm.

"Huh?"

"That Alice girl. You said her name as soon as you woke up." Mary dropped her head sadly. "She must be really special to you."

Dante held his head as he smiled at the fond memories. "Mm...I think she is."

The paladin raised her head to look at Dante and saw that smile on his face. However, this only made her annoyed and angry. Instead of saying anything to him, she simply turned away and walked briskly out of the room, leaving him in confusion from her abrupt leave.

Her only objective was to try and lure Dante away from the Aegis, or simply put, seduce him back to Krylin. So far her plans weren't exactly panning out. She bit her thumb nail as she frowned in thought. "All because of that bitch Lia. Who does she think she is to try and poke her nose into Dante's business?" she whispered bitterly under her breath. Mary glared daggers at the wooden floorboards as she tried to think of another plan.

"Dante," Lia said, snapping Mary out of her own thoughts. "Do you think you could bring some of our stuff to the ship? It's only a few small bags."

"Sure."

The fire mage smiled as Dante picked up the bags near the front door and walked past her. Lia stood by the open door until she heard Dante reach the bottom of the ladder.

"I suggest you start acting properly around your platoon leader."

Mary shot a deadly glare at Lia, who's lips were pursed tightly in a stern expression. "I am!" the warrior retorted.

"Leave your childish flirting at home. We're on a quest. One wrong move and we could have all died today."

"Excuse me?" Mary scoffed loudly, jabbing a thumb into her chest. "It was because of me that we manage to get out alive! If I wasn't there-!"

"You may have done good this time, but if this attitude of yours keeps up, then you're going to get him killed. Careless martyrs are the reasons why platoon leaders die. It's the _only_ reason why they would die." Lia turned away from Mary and whispered dangerously, "if I see you flirting with him again on a quest, then I'll see to it personally that you get your martyr status rescinded."

Anger boiled inside of Mary as she balled up her fists. "And who are you to tell me what I can and can't do with him? You're acting just like his mother!"

Lia turned her head slightly and muttered, "is that so?" A smile tugged at the corners of her lips, causing Mary to look at her in a stunned manner.

"...That's good to hear," she whispered before leaving the treehouse.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Thanks for all of the reviews this time around! _

**Deathly Betrayal - **_Thanks so much! The sprites look fan-tabulous !~ I really enjoyed all three of them you made! _

**SwingOfIce26 - **_Oh yeah, you can definitely expect more battle scenes very soon :) _

**My Favorite Color is Potato -**_ Haha, well people already accuse my story of being "cliched" so, they'd probably go BAWWW some more if I made Alice the carrier of the seed, since she is the main heroine. And aside from that trivial reason, I'm well-aware of the 4th job title of "Dark Knight" (which Alice WILL advance into, in the future chapters). Probably won't be the best of ideas to be giving the pure World Tree a taste of dark energy. xD _

_Ah yes, once again, my first Aegis story has received a warm, heartfelt message from the fans. I am saying "warm and heartfelt" with a very sarcastic undertone. It's obviously no coincidence that as soon as I left two pretty "critical" reviews on two different fics in the Maple section over the past few days, that I get a nasty comment on one of my own fics. It's expected since writers and artists in general are very sensitive to criticism unless you're used to it. That being said, one of the authors that had a fic where I left the critical review in, have talked it out with me and I believe we're on pretty agreeable, happy labbu labbu terms. :)  
><em>(You might know who you are after you read this~)

_However, I believe these two authors have "diehard fans" that simply did not like me leaving criticisms on their beloved fics, let's just call this insane fan, 'Mista JealousTroll' for now. Honestly doesn't take a genius to figure out that once I left those critical reviews on the Maple section, that I get my one nasty review back a few hours afterwards. An anonymous one at that! With MY penname followed by "should burn." Indicates personal attack towards me? I believe so :) _

_If you guys are curious as to the nasty review, you are all free to go back to the first "Aegis" and read it. (EDIT) Sorry guys, I've deleted it because I believed it was the best course of action right now.) It's a simple one-liner that shows the envy and jealousy of said writer. Now, I'm going to stop being a condescending arsehole and be serious for a moment..._

_Look, I didn't ask for people to read my fic more. I didn't ask for people to give it more attention. (Yeah, I did ask for more reviews, but that's from the current readers). I can't control who the fuck thinks my fic is interesting. I certainly can't control if they choose to spread it to their friends or not. But honestly, "Mista JealousTroll," please for the love of DantexCedric yaoi, try to cover up your intentions more. It's pretty damn obvious that you're jealous of the attention my fic is getting by calling it "overrated." Lul, I'm not even joking or trying to put myself up on a pedestal right now. Just from your "anonymous" username and your one line review clearly shows that you dislike me because of the large amount of attention Aegis is getting. _

_But you know what, all I'm going to give is a big "fuck you" with my middle finger raised up high and call it quits. :)  
>Haters are gonna hate and I honestly can't do a damn thing about it as Aegis continues to gain popularity on here and on DeviantArt through my art. With fans, come haters unfortunately. If you don't like my story, then kindly gtfo off the intrawebs. :) No one's going to miss you. <em>

_Wrapping this up, here's some words of wisdom..._

_Problem, haters? :)_

_..._

_As always, please leave a review. It really helps out a lot. I'm always appreciative to see what you think about the story. I know this chapter was pretty short compared to the previous few chapters, but I did my best. c:_

_..._

_And yes, Ivan and Minna did have hawt secks. UNC UNC UNC (That was inappropriate. I'm sorry -sobbu- ) _

_Next update is planned for this coming Saturday. I know it's a long ways away, but I have to work on schoolwork and other stuffs._

_LOOK FF DOT NET FINALLY GOT A GOOD REVIEW BUTTON. LOOK HOW PRETTY IT IS. CLICK IT. IT'S SO DAMN PRETTY. _

_PRETTTYYYY DESUUU_

...

_k I'm done. Stay fresh my friends._

_..._

_P.S. I was listening to One Ok Rock's song Jibun Rock while I was writing this and I can SO imagine Cedric singing it, with Dante on the guitar, Ivan on bass, and Xin on the drums. -fangirl mode activate-_


	17. The Promising Alliance

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 17 - The Promising Alliance**

The world around her soon brightened up as she slowly opened up her eyes.

"...She's awake!" she could hear Sean exclaiming.

Meg held her head as she sat up in the clean hospital bed. "The infirmary...?" she asked, looking around the room.

"Oh Meg!" her mother cried, throwing her arms around the small cleric. "I was so worried about you! When that nice elf brought you back home unconscious and when you weren't responsive for three days, I just thought...-"

"We're just so glad that you're okay now!" her father said crying tears of relief.

Meg watched as her mother burst into tears and her father comforting her. "Mom...Dad..." Tears welled up in her blue eyes as Meg hugged them back. "I'm sorry for worrying you," she said as she sniffled.

"It's fine! It wasn't your fault."

Sean stood off to the side, watching the family crying in each other's arms in relief and happiness. Figuring that he should leave them alone, he turned to leave the room, but stopped when he heard Meg's mother speak to him.

"Thank you so much for being there with Meg, Sean! If she had blacked out with no one around her, who knows what could have happen!"

"Ah, it was nothing!" the young boy exclaimed hurriedly, blushing in embarrassment. He waved his hands frantically. "I really didn't do anything significant. It was all Ciel."

"Well...you still care for Meg greatly so that's more than enough that we could ever ask for."

* * *

><p>"Jeez, I'm sorry about my parents," Meg explained as she got changed out of her hospital robes. She laughed softly and said, "they can get so over dramatic sometimes."<p>

Sean had his back turned to her as she got changed. "I think all parents would do the same thing if their kid blacked out." He peeked over his shoulder to see if she was done, but he immediately turned a bright apple red in the cheeks when he saw that she was still in the middle of changing. He caught a glimpse of her pale, smooth back and immediately his heart began to race.

"We-Well...your parents sound like they trust me a lot," Sean stuttered out, quickly turning away from her.

"Mm, I told you! You're the only boy that they let me be close to!"

Meg slipped on her pastel blue colored shirt and smiled as she smoothed it out. "Okay, Sean! You can turn around now! I'm done!"

The blue haired boy peeked over his shoulder again, just to check, and then turned around when he saw that she was fully clothed. He let out a visible sigh, one that Meg took notice of.

"Why are you sighing?" she asked, giggling. "Were you nervous that I was changing?"

"N-No! Why would I be nervous about that?"

Meg giggled again as she leaped towards him. In a playful gesture, she pinched his soft cheeks and exclaimed, "you're so shy for a boy, Sean!" She saw his pouting expression and added in, "it's okay! I think it's cute!"

"C-Cute...?"

"Of course! You're like my cute little brother! Your sister's so lucky to have you as her brother!"

At first, Sean believed that Meg meant the word 'cute' in a _different_ way. Perhaps in a way that showed her attraction to him, but it didn't surprise him that she meant it in a way _other than_ as a friend or may the goddesses forbid...a little brother.

"Oh..." Was all Sean could muttered. He dropped his head as soon as Meg turned back towards the bed to slip on her pink sandals.

"I want to go get a huge chocolate fudge sundae! I haven't eaten one in so long!" She happily hopped over to Sean and linked arms with Sean, oblivious to his disappointed expression. "You're buying, Sean! I'll pay you back when I get back home!"

"...Okay..." Sean said, mustering up a smile, trying to hide his pain.

He didn't know if he could ever communicate his true feelings that had been growing inside of him ever since he and Meg had grown close. What _were_ his true feelings to her anyways? They were hard to describe, but Sean knew that he liked her. No...he _loved_ her.

But he didn't know when she would stop seeing him as a friend and start seeing him as a love interest, or even...at least, a man.

* * *

><p>Alice gulped in anxiety when she saw the rather large army that was stationed at the garrison that Xin was talking about. "H-How are we going to get past this?" she asked Xin, who was standing beside her in the thick, bushy tree.<p>

The crusader frowned his lips slightly in thought. "We'll need to sneak past them undetected. Of course, that alone presents a challenge because that gate is the only way we have of getting out of here." He pointed down to the mouth of the garrison, which had a wooden gate that was tightly locked shut.

"And how are we going to get that open without making a sound?"

"We're not. Hopefully I can break it down quickly before they surround us. Then...we'll need to make a break for it."

"It feels like a lot of it is left up to chance," Alice muttered, skeptical if Xin's plan will really work.

"We won't get captured. I promise. I won't let you go back to that castle again."

Alice looked down at the gloved hand that Xin held out to her. She then looked up at his face and saw the confident smile on it.

"Trust me," he assured her.

She took his hand and smiled back at him. "Okay then. It's your call."

Xin pulled her close and brought her up into his arms. "Hold on tight."

Alice wrapped her arms around his neck as he jumped down from the tree. The steel on his boots make a slight sound, but overall, his landing was quiet. He gently set her back down on the ground and they quickly hid behind the safe cover of the trees.

"See those two over there?" Xin asked, pointing discreetly at the two drunk soldiers that were sitting slightly away from the rest of the army. They were chatting and laughing loudly around a small fire, drinking glassfuls of beer.

Alice peeked out from behind her tree and nodded. "Yeah. What's going to happen to them?"

"Watch." Xin smiled as he drew out his Doombringer. The black and silver colored sword glinted against the soft light of the campfires as Xin tilted it at an angle, getting ready to strike. He waited until the soldiers at another nearby campfire, drew their attention to something else.

That's when he rushed out at the two, unsuspecting soldiers. Xin brought his sword high up above his head and brought down the blunt handle on both of their heads with great precision and ease. As soon as the two soldiers were knocked unconscious, Xin grabbed then by the back of their armor and dragged them into the cover of the trees.

"Although they won't notice right away, if we don't hurry, the other soldiers might get suspicious," Xin said as he put his Doombringer back into its hold. He bent down and began to strip the dark gray armor off of the soldiers.

Alice went over to him and helped. "Are we going to wear these to sneak past?"

"Yeah." The crusader released the leather straps that held his steel shoulder armor. As he set it down on the ground, Alice curiously watched him as he continued to take off the armor on his legs.

"You're leaving them here?"

"It can't be helped. I can't take them with me and the main issue right now is getting out of here," Xin pulled down his skin tight, black sleeveless shirt before he began to put on the unconscious soldier's armor.

Alice followed his example and slipped on the chest piece over her white shirt. The armor was slightly heavier than her usual armor, so she stumbled a little, eventually catching her balance.

"It's not too heavy is it?"

"A little...but I can manage."

"Good. I know female warrior armor is a little bit lighter..." Xin chuckled softly when he saw how big the armor was on Alice, "perhaps a little bit smaller too."

The blue haired girl blushed softly in embarrassment as she slipped on the rest of the armor. Everything was just too big for her, especially the shoes. Whenever she'd walk, she would make loud clunking sounds, hardly graceful.

"Think you can walk?" the black haired warrior asked Alice as he held her by her arm.

Alice soon found her balance in the bulky armor and nodded in confidence at Xin. "Let's go."

They slipped the steel helmets onto their heads to further cover their true identities. Xin kept his face uncovered, but he bent over slightly to look at Alice. "You should probably cover your face. I doubt there aren't too many women here."

"R-Right."

Alice felt nervous as they stepped out from the safe cover of the trees. Would they be discovered? Were their disguises not good enough?

As they both walked through the garrison with ease and with discretion, Alice began to relax a bit more. She made sure that she never lost sight of Xin, but it was hard to differentiate him from the other soldiers when he had the helmet on. Not to mention, it was hard for her to see in general with the barred grill that covered her face.

She flinched a little when she felt a hand grab hers.

Alice looked up and saw that it was Xin. He didn't look down at her, but he whispered, "stay close."

"Hey! You two!"

They both froze at the sound of the loud voice. Xin was the first to turn around to meet the person. "Is there a problem?" he asked calmly.

Alice turned around as well and recognized a familiar face that she did not want to see.

It was Fleischer, the buccaneer that had captured her and Dante a few years ago and had tortured the two of them for information. Alice gasped softly and stepped back. Xin felt her grip his hand more tightly and he knew that she was scared.

He did recognize Fleischer, but only from the battle with Krylin. He was the one that had stabbed Dante. Obviously, he shouldn't take him lightly.

"We've received orders from Krylin to go to Perion," Xin lied, keeping a straight face.

"We have no business in Perion," Fleischer said with a level of suspicion in his voice. He raised a bushy blond eyebrow and leaned in close. "I recognize you from somewhere..."

The male warrior gently squeezed Alice's hand, seeing as how they were already found out. Xin kept his deep blue eyes fixed on Fleischer. "Maybe you've seen me in this army?"

"Don't act so smart. I know the faces of all the men in this garrison and you...you're not one of them."

Xin glanced down and saw the burly, tanned man slip on his King Cent knuckle over his right hand. There was no doubt now that they had been found out.

"Tell me who your friend is," Fleischer ordered, looking directly at Alice.

The spearman cringed under the man's gaze. She was instantly reminded of how he had treated her and how he ruthlessly tortured Dante right in front of her. Alice wanted nothing more than to escape. She _definitely_ did not want to be captured again.

Suddenly, she felt Xin turn to his side and hold her tightly against him. He drew out his Doombringer quickly to land a strike on Fleischer, however it wasn't quick enough.

The brawler landed a strong punch into Xin's stomach, denting the armor and causing the warrior stagger backwards in pain.

"Xin!" Alice cried out as she saw how the impact had nearly put a hole into the thick armor covering Xin's abdomen.

"Alice, run to the gates. Try to weaken it in any way that you can."

"But-"

"Go!" he shouted, freeing her from his arms. "I'll hold off Fleischer and the soldiers for now!"

Seeing as how she shouldn't be wasting anymore time, Alice darted off towards the gate. As she ran towards it with the best of her abilities with the heavy armor on, Alice was met with a few soldiers that grew alerted at the commotion she and Xin stirred up.

She spotted a few of them carrying steel spears. She needed to get a hold of one of them and quick.

"Don't let him escape!" she could hear Fleischer shout from behind.

Alice stopped when a few soldiers blocked her path. She dodged the swing of their swords ungracefully, but she got it done. One of the soldiers blocking her made a move to jab her with the steel spear. Alice stepped off to the side, dodging it and then quickly grabbing the long pole. She gave it a strong yank, pulling the soldier towards her.

She then delivered a kick into his gut, sending him backwards and causing him to let go of the spear.

Although it wasn't her Eviscerator, Alice got used to the weight of the weapon quite easily. She spun it fluidly so that the pointed end now faced her enemies.

Letting out a loud cry, Alice charged forth and swung the spear down sharply. As it crashed into the ground, a blue dragon erupted from the end of the spear and roared as it threw it's sheer power directly at the soldiers. They all fell back from the powerful attack and Alice used this opportunity to make the last run to the gate.

She spotted the large, thick iron bar that held the gate closed. There was no way for her to remove it physically by hand. It seemed as though she would need force.

Alice sharply spun her spear once around and bent her knees. Quickly, she dashed forth towards the gate and brought down the weapon upon the thick iron bar with all the strength she could muster.

It cracked underneath the brute force, so much that it was nearly split in half.

"Alice!"

The blue haired girl whipped around and saw the crusader running up to her, sword pointed downwards in a charge to strike.

He dashed just past her and lept up high into the air. His Doombringer was brought up over his head, then he striked the gate with all of his might. The bar broke in half and fell to the ground in a thunderous rumble.

Xin landed on the ground right in front of the gate and let out a loud yell as he stabbed his sword right in the middle of the gate. The metal door cracked, then began to crumble just as Xin pulled his sword out. "Alice! Let's go!" he shouted above the ground shaking rumbles.

The female warrior ran towards him and immediately Xin grabbed a hold of her hand and ran with her out of the garrison.

"Stop them!" they could hear Fleischer shout, but his voice was getting more and more distant.

Alice turned her head back to see if any one was following them. She breathed a sigh of relief when she couldn't see anything else, but the crumbled debris of the metal gate and a cloud of smoke.

They had made it out.

The two of them continued to run until they could no longer see the thick cover of the Dungeon's trees. Their surroundings weren't familiar to them, showing how much Victoria Island had changed during Krylin's reign.

Xin panted heavily as they finally came to a clear spring that was in the safe cover of some trees. He collapsed against a large rock that was beside the spring and quickly took off the helmet that was on his head. As he did so, Alice worriedly knelt down next to him. "Xin? You don't look so good..."

"I'm fine," he mustered up a weak smile as he stripped himself of the heavy chest armor. He grunted in pain from the injury he sustained from Fleischer's brutal punch. "Jeez," Xin breathed out as he inspected the dent that was made in the armor. "He's really strong, isn't he?" Laughing in a joking manner, Xin clutched at his bruised and now bleeding side and grit his teeth in pain. Alice could tell that it was getting worse as time wore on.

"Xin! Wh-What should I do? I don't have any potions on me."

"It's okay. I'll recover soon."

"You don't look okay!" Alice exclaimed in great worry. She removed her helmet and crawled up to him. "I'll get you some water from the springs, okay?"

All Xin did was nod as he leaned his head back against the rock.

With a great urgency, Alice took off all of the armor that was on her and ran over to the cold spring. She dipped her hands in the chilly water and scooped up some water in her hands to drink. Alice relished the fresh taste of the water and drank two handfuls of it before taking off her white shirt, leaving her only in her chest bindings.

Seeing as how she couldn't bring the water to Xin in any other way, she soaked her shirt thoroughly in the spring and wrung it out just so that it was slightly damp.

As Alice went back and knelt down beside Xin, he seemed alarmed to be seeing her shirtless with only her chest bindings keeping her decent. "You could have used my shirt," he said as she pressed her damp shirt against his wound. He hissed at the pain and cold sensation.

"Sorry, "Alice mumbled an awkward apology, her unsure hands placed themselves over her shirt, keeping the damp cloth on him. "I'm not that good with first aid or anything like that..."

Xin chuckled and shook his head. "It's not like you're a cleric. This is perfectly fine. Much better than nothing, right? I'm just glad we made it out alright," his gaze dropped down to his wound and he smiled sheepishly, "well...for the most part anyways."

The blue haired girl giggled softly at how positive he was despite the fact that they were still within the range of Krylin's grasp. She continued to gently dab away at his injury, eventually gaining permission from him to lift up his shirt.

Upon further inspection, there were several angry red bruises dotting the right side of his torso, around the area of his initial wound. Alice gently pressed her finger on them and he let out an involuntary cry of pain.

"I think that punch broke a few ribs." Xin laughed, still wincing from the pain. "Damn weak armor. Guess we'll have no problem defeating Krylin's army if that's all it takes to pierce it," he said jokingly.

Alice looked up at him worriedly. "Are you sure this is all you need?"

"Don't worry about it," Xin said, grunting softly as he staggered to his feet. "I've certainly been hit much harder than that anyways. In any case..." He sat down on the rock he had been leaning on and pointed out, "you shouldn't be walking around like that."

Realizing how bare she was, Alice blushed a bright red and slowly crossed her arms over her chest, trying to cover herself up a little bit.

Smiling at her innocent gesture, Xin took her wet shirt off of his wound and held it. "We should get moving once this dries up."

* * *

><p><em>The sound of the little infant's cries grew louder as she attempted to look around for it. Finally, she spotted a small bundle of white blankets in the middle of what used to be a house...their house. <em>

_In a shudder of relief, she ran towards the small baby and brought it up into her arms. She knelt there in the smoldering remains of what used to be her home, gently caressing and nuzzling her baby boy. _

_"First your husband...now your only son." _

_The black haired fire mage raised her head and turned around to come face to face with a man. He had a devious, almost demonic grin on his face as he approached her through the flames that surrounded Henesys. She scowled angrily at him as she stood up, tightly gripping her Evil Wings staff. "You dare try to harm a single hair on his head and I'll end your life right now!" _

_The man stepped on a charred support beam a few feet away from her. It cracked into pieces as the man ground the heels of his black lacquered boots into it. He smiled amusingly at her. "Is that so? You'll really kill me while protecting that boy of yours? Hm, perhaps you could protect him better than how that husband of yours did. Pretty pathetic if you ask me...getting killed just trying to protect your son-"_

_"Don't you dare speak of Alec that way!" she shouted, holding back tears. "You have no right to foul his name with your tongue!" _

_"Did I hit a nerve?" the man chortled, brushing back his long dark purple bangs. "The fearless fire mage, Cecilia Kyudo- oh oops - or should I drop that last name for now since your husband is now deceased?" _

_Breathing heavily, the woman held her staff in front of her. "I'll kill you. I definitely kill you..." _

_She gazed down at her small son, who stared up at his mother curiously with his big round, red eyes, unaware of the danger that they were in. With a painful, but happy smile, she closed her eyes and held her baby tightly. _

_"I'll never let you harm him, Xeros. I'll protect him. By the goddesses..." she whispered, tightly squeezing her eyes shut as she touched her forehead against her son's. "I swear I'll never let anything happen to you, Dante."_

* * *

><p>"Lia?"<p>

She flinched at the sound of Dante's voice, waking her up from her light nap. Quickly, she cleared her throat, still reeling from the dream she had. "Urm, y-yes?" she stammered out.

"We're at the Orbis shipyard now." Dante raised an eyebrow slightly in concern. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked as he placed his hand on her forehead. "You look a little pale..."

Lia felt the warmth of his hand, gently pressing against her skin, and suddenly felt comforted. She reassured herself that the past was the past and that her dream was nothing more that her memory. What was done was done, there was no point in revisiting it over and over again.

"Thank you, but I'm fine, Dante." She smiled up at him sweetly. _'That's right...Dante's here in front of me, alive and well. That's what matters. That's all that matters.' _

Lia got up to her feet and walked out onto the deck of the small ship, with Dante following closely behind. "Well...best get to the infirmary soon to get those wounds of yours checked out. My first aid isn't exactly the best."

"Hm?" Dante reached up to touch the bandage wrapped around his head. "Oh this." He chuckled sheepishly. "This was more than enough. Thanks."

The archmage smiled up at him before waving at him in goodbye. "Well then, take care of yourself, Dante."

He brought his hand up to wave back, but she had already turned away and quickly walked down the docks and towards Orbis. Dante stood there on the deck of the ship until she disappeared into the sea of people on the streets. Strangely, he felt some sort of a connection with her. It certainly wasn't anything like a friendship, and it most certainly isn't anything romantic, but it was just_ something._

Dante shook his head and decided to ponder upon this some other time. For now, he decided to take up Lia's offer and go to the infirmary to get his head wound checked out.

As he walked down the busy streets of Orbis towards the infirmary building, he held his head as he thought back to the time of his "death" three years ago. It was all so clear now on what had happened. He could remember what everyone did, what everyone said, what Alice had said, what he had said...to her in particular.

Dante closed his eyes. He could remember the expression she held on her face as she kissed him on the rooftop a few days ago. He could now make sense of the pain in her eyes and the sadness. It was all because of him.

Although he endured physical pains through his ordeal with Krylin, he knew that Alice must have been through the similarly painful ordeal, only within herself.

He sighed as he reached the plain white building of his destination. "I was selfish," he muttered under his breath, leaning against one of the white pillars at the entrance doors. "I was selfish Alice," he repeated.

"Dante!"

The archer looked up at the sound of his name and saw Cedric running up to him with a huge grin on his face. "Ce-"

Without warning, the green haired man lept towards his friend and captured him in a tight side hug. "Come here you! I heard someone got their memories back!" Cedric cheered happily. "I finally have my cutie Dante back! Here, give me a kiss!"

"_'My_'?" Dante pushed him away as soon as Cedric puckered up his lips, trying to kiss his friend on the cheek. He frowned at him, "nice to see that you're still the same old you."

The bandit rubbed the bottom of his nose while smiling. "You expect me to be calm when I finally have my best friend back?" Cedric tightly wrapped his arms around the archer again.

Dante flinched at how strongly Cedric embraced him. As soon as he let go, Dante rubbed at the lingering soreness in the areas where Cedric had his arms. "Anyways, how'd you find out?"

"Well, it was just a guess. I ran into Lia on the way here and I asked her where you were. She told me you had a huge head wound and I thought that just maybe, you've recovered! Then I saw you here and truth be told, the look in your eyes look different than before. You don't look so confused now."

"Came to such a bold conclusion only from knowing that. Remind me to never lie to you," Dante said jokingly, smiling at his friend. Although he thought his friend was too "clingy," he was glad to see him with his retrieved memories. It was almost as if he hadn't seen him in ages, even though they had spoken to each other just a few days ago.

"So!" Cedric threw his arm around Dante's shoulders and led him into the infirmary. "You came here to get that checked out, right?" he asked, pointing up to his friend's head.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Well then, let's go!"

"Cedric."

"Hm?"

Dante seemed hesitant to ask what he was about to say. "Did...Alice turn up anywhere?"

"Oh..." Immediately, the cheerfulness in Cedric's voice went away. He lowered his head a little bit and shook it. "Athena did send out small search parties out to the surrounding areas, but we couldn't find her. Ada and I were even sent out to El Nath, but nothing. Sorry..." Cedric said apologetically. "Guess you got your memories back from _that_ time too, huh?"

"Yeah." Dante smiled a little. "I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing yet, to be honest."

"What do you mean?"

The black haired man stopped walking, the soles of her black boots squeaked a little against the tiled floors of the infirmary from the abrupt stop. Cedric stopped as well and turned back to look at his friend. He could make out what appeared to be a guilty expression upon Dante's face as he stared intensely down at the floor.

"...Dante?"

"I want to see her. I want to see her badly," he admitted. "I want to tell her so much, but I don't know how to. What am I even going to say to her?" Dante asked, not really directing the question to Cedric, but to himself as well. He grit his teeth in distress as he held his head.

The bandit smiled as he latched himself onto Dante again by throwing his arm around his shoulder. "You know what? You seem fine!"

"What...?"

"How about we go get some food at the barracks, huh? It's all on me!"

Dante shot him a narrowed glare. "The food there is free," he stated pointedly.

"Come on! Let's go!" Cedric cheered as he led Dante out the infirmary doors, completely ignoring what Dante had said to him.

* * *

><p>Minna gently opened up her eyes, revealing her wine red irises. She found herself to be staring directly at the crook of Ivan's neck. Gently, she tilted her head up to see that Ivan was still fast asleep. She smiled at this, then blushed softly at remembering what they had done last night.<p>

In a gentle gesture, Minna reached up and tangled her fingers in his blond hair before giving him a soft kiss on the lips.

He stirred as she sat up in the bed. She watched him until he slowly woke up.

"Good morning," she smiled warmly, holding the white sheets up to her chest.

Ivan didn't say anything as he reached out to gently wrap his hand around her arm. "Stay," he whispered sleepily.

Minna giggled as she touched his hand. "You know we can't. Bastille said he'll give us our answer today. We should go meet him...-" The cleric trembled as she saw him sit up slowly. He ran his hand gently across the smooth skin of her arm, treating her as if she was made out of glass.

Ivan brushed aside her long orange hair and closed his eyes as he dotted soft kisses on the back of her neck and shoulders.

"Ivan-" she mewled out his name softly, feeling his hand run down her slim backside. "We shouldn't. We're late as it is."

Despite what she had said, Minna stayed there, feeling Ivan bathe her in gentle kisses and shivering in pleasure. She flinched slightly when she felt his hand lightly brush against her chest, but she closed her eyes and relaxed when he kept his hand over her left breast.

The pirate buried his face into her neck and whispered softly, "I don't want to leave."

Minna, in a daze from Ivan's touch, barely managed to stutter out, "w-we need to Ivan. We need to go find Xin after this as well."

Seeing as how they had their duties ahead of them, Ivan nodded slightly and planted one last kiss on her neck before pulling away. Minna looked back at him and sensed some disappointment. She smiled and turned around. "Maybe...when we get back to El Nath?" Minna leaned forward and gave him an innocent kiss and smiled again when he blushed softly.

They both got out of bed and quietly got dressed. Even though they had shown everything to each other the night before, they still kept their backs turned to each other, at opposite ends of the room, as they put on their clothes.

Occasionally, Minna snuck glanced back at Ivan and caught glimpses of him putting on his shirt. His body wasn't muscular, but he was slim and well-built. Minna could still remember how she ran her hands all over his back as he was on top of her. Embarrassed by her own thoughts, Minna blushed and quickly turned away.

However, unknown to Minna, Ivan too, also snuck glances at her as she slipped on her blue Bazura dress. As she pulled on the silky material, he was amazed at how slender and shapely Minna's body was. Her small waist just made him want to wrap his arm around it and hold her close.

Quickly, he looked away before she caught him staring. Ivan cleared his throat a little before he slipped on his brown fingerless gloves.

As they both finished dressing, there was sharp knock on the door.

"Y-Yes?" Minna asked. She went for the door and opened it up. She opened it up wider when she saw that it was Starling. "Starling! What are you doing here?"

The female gunslinger looked utterly confused as she said, "I could ask you the same question." She raised a blond eyebrow and looked back at the door across the wall. "I thought...I thought your room was over there." Starling peered into the room behind Minna and saw Ivan. That's when she blushed a bright red at the realization of what had happened. An awkward cough came out of her mouth as she mumbled, "we didn't realize that you two were in _that_ sort of relationship. We could have given you one room to share."

Minna shook her head hurriedly. "N-No! It's fine!" She giggled and waved it off. "So!" she exclaimed, trying to change the subject, "are we late for our meeting with Bastille?"

"Erm, about that..."

The cleric automatically knew the answer when she saw the downfallen expression Starling had on her face. "He...he doesn't accept?"

"Sorry. He means no hard feelings to the Aegis," Starling quickly added in. "But...he doesn't want to send the Silent Crusade off into battle against Krylin."

"But, I thought you guys wanted to fight against Krylin!"

"We do." Starling closed her eyes and sighed, "we do," she repeated. "But unless the Aegis can show that they're serious about launching an invasion on Victoria Island, then Bastille doesn't want to risk it."

"We showed that we're serious by even coming this far from Ossyria! Isn't that enough?"

"What Bastille wants is more proof. Listen, tell Athena Pierce that if she wants the Silent Crusade's alliance, then the Aegis will need to reclaim Ellinea and Henesys again. Only then will Bastille lend support to reclaim the rest of the Victoria Island."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Argh, sorry for another short chapter! _

_But holy shizzle guys! ELEVEN reviews for the last chapter in a week? That's crazy! I'm just ecstatic with the support! Thanks so much! _

_Just because of that, I'll be releasing the next chapter by tomorrow! _

_I know, I miss the Dante x Alice fluff too. -sad face- _

_As always, please leave a review. It really helps out a lot. :)_


	18. First Kiss

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 18 - First Kiss**

"Hm, looks like a storm might be hitting Orbis in a few hours," Xin said pensively as he pointed off into the distance.

Alice looked to where he was pointing and saw the dark orange outlines of dark gray storm clouds hovering in the distance. "Is that where Ossyria is?"

"Yep. Seems pretty close from here, doesn't it?" he asked, chuckling. Xin sighed in relief as he looked all around where they were standing. It was small lookout point which seemed to be one of the highest points in the Perion mountain landscape. "I heard that Orbis didn't get storms a few years ago. They get a couple of storms nowadays since Orbis is starting to fall."

"Right...the prophecy about their tower. It's a little sad."

"Well...it is, but I feel as if we have bigger worries on our minds, right? We should try to make our way towards Edelstein, or at least try to before nightfall."

"How will we get there?" Alice asked, following Xin down from the lookout point.

"Apparently Krylin's building these crazy flying contraptions. I know it sounds silly, but there's one near Kerning City, or at least that's what our intel has told us. What were they called?" Xin cupped his chin in thought. "I think they were called, aeroplanes?"

"Can't we take one of those back to Orbis?"

"From what I've heard, they aren't that fast and aren't that great for long distance travel. Plus, they make a lot of noise. No doubt that Krylin will send out some dragons to chase us if we even end up flying them. Besides..." Xin smiled as he gently patted his brown bag that was around his waist. "Grendel gave me a teleport rock for us to use on our return trip back home. For now, our only priority is to find Minna and Ivan and get back."

Alice nodded as she took Xin's hand as he helped her step down the mountain side.

"At least it's a good thing that you managed to acquire a weapon. We shouldn't be in too much danger now unless we run into some of Krylin's assassins. They're pretty skilled fighters, I have to admit. Nothing to worry about of course!" Xin quickly said, not wanting to panic Alice.

She laughed a little uneasily, still a bit nervous about running into these "master assassins."

"How are we going to get on the aeroplanes? Aren't they only for Krylin's forces? They aren't going to let us on if we look like this..."

"I'm sure at least one of the planes are owned by someone in the rebel groups. There has to be or else the Silent Crusade would have no means of travel between Victoria Island and their base."

Alice still wasn't sure if Xin's plan would work, but so far, things have been working out...or at least to some extent. So she decided to follow his plan without much argument. He was more experienced at things like this after all.

They made their way out of the treacherous landscape of Perion and entered what appeared to be the charred remains of the L Forest. Alice could remember how lush and green this forest was a few years ago, but as she and Xin walked through it, there was absolutely nothing left except piles of ash and burnt trees.

"Krylin must have destroyed this forest during her invasion. Such a shame too, it was a beautiful place," Xin muttered, gently running his hand past the charred bark of a tree. He clapped his hand afterwards, brushing off the black residue off his fingers and gloves. "Kerning City should be close by."

As they walked on, a burnt tree suddenly fell over, crashing onto the ground just behind Alice. Quickly, Xin pulled the warrior close to him, holding her as they both stared at the weak tree, startled by the loud noise.

"Stay close," he whispered, tightly holding her hand.

Alice felt him give her hand a slight squeeze as he walked on in front of her. She glanced up at him, then back down at the ground.

"Xin," she started softly, "do you…really like me?"

"Huh?" The crusader turned to face her as he stopped his brisk walk. "Why this all of a sudden?"

"If you don't-!" Alice bit her bottom lip lightly, wondering if she should continue. "Then please…don't confuse me."

"What I did just now wasn't a matter of liking you or not."

"It's not only this time! It's all the other times too!" The blue haired girl clenched her fists in frustration. "You did comfort me about Dante...but at the same time you also talked as if you liked me. It's confusing me."

Xin lowered his deep blue eyes and muttered, "I'm not the one confusing you."

"Eh?"

"You should know already who you love. Despite what I say and what I do, there shouldn't be any second thoughts or doubt within you."

"But-"

The black haired warrior looked up at the slowly darkening sky. "We should get going," he interrupted, not dwelling on this subject matter any longer.

Alice disappointingly followed him, her footsteps dragging along the ash covered ground. She wished to know why Xin would treat her as if she were his little sister one minute, then treat her as if she were his lover another minute. What exactly did he mean by "doubts?"

She wasn't doubting anything...or at least that's what she thought.

* * *

><p>"You two take care, you hear?" Starling said to Minna and Ivan as they stood in the small air field near Kerning City. "You sure you don't need help getting back to Ossyria or finding your friend for that matter?"<p>

Minna shook her head and smiled. "It's fine. We'll manage. Thank you for letting us spend the night."

The blond gunslinger sighed as she slipped her hands inside the pockets of her white coat. "Sorry about the whole alliance thing. Bastille and many of the Silent Crusade members are still distrustful of the Aegis after they retreated from Victoria Island. Hope you don't take it too personally. If I was in charge, I probably would have taken you guys up on the offer."

"You would?" the cleric asked.

Starling smiled. "You two seem like you genuinely care about the people. You're not bad people."

"Starling!" Crow shouted from the small aeroplane. "Let's go back! Do you want Krylin to catch us?"

Scowling, Starling sharply turned around and yelled back, "I'm taking my time to politely send off our guests! Something that you aren't capable of!"

The young male gunslinger growled under his breath and slipped back into his seat without any other arguments. Starling smirked at this and turned back to Minna and Ivan. She took the cleric's soft hand and shook it in a handshake.

"Well...hope we'll cross paths again."

Minna giggled as Starling gave one last wave before running off to the rickety, brown aeroplane. She waved them off as the plane rolled down the short runway and took off back towards Edelstein.

Ivan looked up at the quickly darkening sky. He could spot dark clouds in the distance, gently highlighted by the orange glow of the setting sun. "How are we going to look for Xin?" he asked Minna as they walked away from the air field.

"Mm, he shouldn't be too far from Kerning since we were both dropped off in the underground tunnels. We should search the surrounding area first. Hopefully we can find him soon."

* * *

><p>"Mm!" Cedric exclaimed as he shoveled spoonfuls of hot gravy with mashed potatoes in his mouth. When he finished that up, he picked up one of the chicken drumsticks that were on his plate, but he stopped when he looked over at Dante, who barely touched anything in front of him. "What's the matter? You usually eat up six full plates! You haven't even touched your first plate! Plus, mashed potatoes are your favorite!"<p>

Dante poked his fork into the creamy potato and set the utensil down. "I don't really have much of an appetite right now."

The bandit raised an eyebrow. He knew what was eating away at his friend's thoughts. "You know...you shouldn't feel guilty for what Alice has been put through."

"Should I?" the archer asked, raising his head to look at Cedric directly in the eyes. "What I did-"

"-Is trivial," Cedric finished up. "It's not worth beating yourself up for. Jeez and here I thought you'd be happy you can remember everything now."

"I don't know if I should be. Along with the good memories, I also remember the bad ones that I wish I could just forget." Dante laced up his fingers and held them in front of his lips. "And it makes me wonder...if Alice will forgive me."

Cedric smiled when he could see how much this was worrying his friend. "You really like her, but you should know that Alice isn't that type of girl."

"Huh?"

"You're worrying over nothing. Alice will forgive you, even if there's nothing to be forgiven for."

Dante watched as Cedric ate away at his chicken leg. He knew there was truth behind his friend's words. Alice wasn't the type of person that needed to be worried about. He knew that she was strong and brave, but at the same time, gentle and shy. That was Alice, the one that he liked, the one that he wanted.

"Where are you going?" Cedric asked, looking up at his friend as he got up.

"Here, you can eat mine," Dante said, hastily shoving his plate of food towards the green haired bandit. "I can't sit here doing nothing when Alice is out there somewhere." He pulled his coat off from the bench and slipped it on as he ran out of the cafeteria.

Amused, but pleased with Dante's hasty decision, Cedric pushed aside his empty plate and brought forward Dante's plate. "More for me I guess," he smiled as he hungrily ate away.

* * *

><p>Alice was starting to feel nauseated from the smell of burnt trees and ashes. No wonder there were no plants regrowing in this forest.<p>

As she silently followed Xin through the dead forest, he suddenly stopped and held out an arm to stop her.

"Xin?" she asked curiously, wondering why they had stopped.

"Shhh," he said briefly as he held an index finger to his lips. "There's someone coming up ahead. We may need to fight if its the enemy. There's no place for us to hide. Get your weapon ready."

Alice brought the steel spear up to grip it with two hands. It was nearly pitch black dark ahead of them because of the lack of a moon in the sky. In the distance, she could hear the rumbling thunder from the storm clouds above Ossyria that she and Xin saw in Perion.

"They're coming," Xin whispered, reaching back to grab the handle of his sword.

Squinting her blue eyes, struggling to see further, Alice could barely make out a small light source in the distance. It was just a small orb of yellow light that seemed to get bigger as whoever or whatever emitted it came closer.

Xin drew his Doombringer out just slightly just as the orb was within a few feet of them.

"Alice? Xin?"

They both relaxed when they heard and saw the familiar strawberry blond cleric, Minna. "You nearly gave us a heart attack," Xin said with a breath of relief.

Minna giggled, finally coming into full focus, with Ivan following closely behind her. Alice could see that the source of light came from a small orb of light magic that Minna held in her hand.

The bubbly cleric fixated her gaze on Alice and immediately jumped forward to capture the warrior in a tight hug. The source of light that was in her hand disappeared as soon as Alice felt Minna's warm embrace.

"Alice! I haven't seen you since your last visit to El Nath! I missed you so much!"

Minna lovingly rubbed her head against Alice's chest, cuddling up close and causing Alice to stammer nervously from the close contact.

"Minna, I missed you too! But...maybe it's best to keep the light on for now?"

"Oh!" She giggled sheepishly as she let go of Alice and produced the warm glow of light in her hands again. "What are you doing here anyways, Alice? I thought you were in Orbis."

"Just...some circumstances brought me here."

Before the girls could talk anymore, Xin looked over at Ivan and noticed the blond gunslinger looking off into the darkness of the dead forest, almost intensely.

"What's wrong? You sense something?" he asked Ivan in a hushed tone.

"It's faint," Ivan muttered, reaching down to the gun in his holster. "But it's getting closer."

Xin grabbed the handle of his sword and drew it out. "Might be some of Krylin's assassins. Not good..." he said lowly. "We're vulnerable where we are and it's not good if we get ambushed in the middle of our teleportation."

Then suddenly, Alice could only make out a blur in the dim lighting. It was so quick and soundless that it took Alice a moment to realize that something had passed her and that something had in fact, hurt her.

It was a rather large gash on Alice's shoulder that bled profusely. She dropped her spear and held her bleeding shoulder, falling to her knees in pain.

"Alice!" Before Xin could reach her, he was met with a slashing attack on his waist. The crusader grunted and held his bleeding side with one hand and swung his Doombringer around with the other, attempting to strike at whoever attacked him.

"They're assassins!" Minna shouted, putting more magic into her light spell. The orb in her hand grew brighter, illuminating the surrounding area even more.

The four of them could make out at least three assassins, all dressed head to toe in black garments with only a small slit for their eyes.

As Alice tried to stand up in order to fight, she fell back to the ground in pain. "I...I can't move!" she exclaimed, trying to move her fingers. Her whole body felt paralyzed.

"Be careful." Xin grit his teeth as he fought against the pain wracking his body. "Being in the reconnaissance and dealing with a lot of these assassins, my body's gotten used to the poisons they coat on their blades. Some of them are deadly. Make sure you don't get hit."

"I'll heal you, Alice," Minna said as she hurriedly rushed over to the spearman's side. She knelt down on the ash covered ground and held out her hands. A soft green aura emitted from the palm of her hands and reached out towards Alice's wound.

Alice whimpered softly at the sensation of her flesh coming back together.

"Minna!" Ivan suddenly shouted out at the sound of a high pitched whistle.

Before Minna could conjure up a mana shield, she fell back and a sharp steely embedded itself in the ground where she once knelt. Alice flinched at how close the steely came to hitting her and she knew that she had to get up, despite the fact that she wasn't fully healed of the paralysis poison.

She grunted as she struggled to get up. Alice grabbed the steel spear by her side and readied herself to attack.

The assassins' attacks started. They first went for Ivan and Xin. The two fought against the two assassins while the third went directly for Alice.

Letting out a yell, Alice tried her best to fight with one good arm, but it was easier said than done. She spun the spear smoothly to deflect a few steelys that flew towards her and charged towards the lone assassin to begin her own attacks.

Alice jumped up and tried to land a stab down on the assassin, but he proved to be too fast. Attack after attack, she tried to hit him, but he dodged them all. It was as if he was made out of water.

Seeing as how she couldn't get him with precise attacks, Alice decided to use another approach.

With her feet planted firmly in the ground, Alice conjured up as much mana as she could and focused it on her single attack. A large circular array appeared behind her. It spun slowly as purple streaks of electricity sparked out from it. A large dragon's head appeared in the middle of it and raised its head high above Alice. It drew back its head a little before letting out an ear-splitting roar.

The ground shook under the sheer power of the roar. Not only did the assassin that Alice was up against, ceased his attacks and cringed in pain, but also the other assassins and unfortunately, Minna and everyone else as well.

When the purple lightning and the dragon disappeared, Alice let out a sharp sigh and fell to her knees. Her body felt completely drained of energy and mana.

Xin uncovered his ears and looked over at Alice. He felt dazed from the destructive noise, but he tried to keep his consciousness. Then, his eyes widened when he saw an assassin quickly moving towards Alice, aiming an attack at her back.

"Alice! Behind you!" he shouted, but it was too late.

Alice gasped when she felt the initial push. Then she felt the stabbing pain in her back. As quick as it entered, Alice could feel the dagger leaving her back sharply. Vaguely, she could hear Xin's voice shouting out for her.

However, just as she fell to the ground, she heard a loud shrieking sound followed by a choking grunt. It almost sounded as if it wasn't from a human, nor any creature she had encountered in the past.

Weakly, she got up to see what had happened. As she did so, she couldn't help, but feel as if her wounds were already healing on their own.

Alice widened her blue eyes when she saw the assassin that had stabbed her had been attacked by something stabbing him directly through his heart. She saw that it was sharp, pointed black needle. Slowly, she followed it up with her eyes and saw what appeared to be a dark ball of energy hovering above her. It glowed a faint dark purple and it stayed there until it retracted its black needle.

The assassin fell to the ground, dead at Alice's feet.

Utterly confused and quite frankly, frightened by what had just happened, Alice looked back up at the ball of dark energy and shivered in fear as she backed away from it. It frightened her even more when it began to follow her.

The ball of dark energy stopped when Alice's back met the remains of a burnt tree. She stared at it fearfully. She didn't know anything about it. Was exactly was it?

Suddenly, it pulsed dangerously as it let out another blood curdling shriek. It flew towards her and Alice screamed, holding up her arms in protection.

The dark energy flew directly into her heart, where it disappeared into smoke. The black smoke swirled around Alice's body for a bit before it flew away. She felt a chill run up and down her spine at the sensation of the ball of energy entering her, but it strangely felt soothing.

Alice felt a gentle tickling sensation on her back where she had gotten stabbed as well as the similar sensation on her injured shoulder. Little did she know that her wounds had been healed completely.

"Alice!" Xin ran up to her and knelt down. "Are you okay? I heard you screaming!"

"Uh..." Alice trembled uncontrollably, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly negative. She felt unknown grief, sadness, and anger swirl around inside of her like a violent windstorm. When she turned to look up at Xin, the crusader gasped softly at the sight of her eyes.

The pupils were engulfed in a glowing red.

She shook her head and buried her face in her hands. "No...no!" she screamed, holding her head in pain.

"Alice! Alice!" Xin shook her by the shoulders, trying to get her back. "What's wrong?"

Right then, the blue haired girl grew still and the screaming stopped. Xin stared down at her, wondering if something had happened to her, something serious. "...Alice?" he asked softly.

Alice blinked a few times before she raised her head again. This time, Xin saw that her pupils weren't colored in red. She looked normal again. "What...happened?" She seemed completely unaware of what had happened to her a few seconds ago.

The male warrior opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Minna.

"Xin! We need to get out of here! Ivan senses more coming this way!"

Quickly, Xin helped Alice onto her feet and ran over to Minna and Ivan. "Are they really?" he asked, taking out the last teleport rock from his brown bag.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Ivan replied, looking off into the dark distance. "I can sense at least seven others."

"Alright then. Time to get out of here." Xin pulled out the rock from his bag and held it in his hand. "Stand close," he instructed everyone.

All four of them stepped close to the rock and Xin said in a loud, clear voice, "Orbis!"

Alice saw a bright flash of light emit from the rock. It got so bright that she had to close her eyes tightly to prevent from being blinded. After a while, the light went away and Alice hesitantly reopened her eyes, wondering if it was safe to do so.

"We made it!" she heard Minna cheer.

And indeed, true to her words, they were back.

Never before had Alice felt so happy to see the beautiful white buildings of Orbis again. She smiled visibly, broadly across her face.

"We'll need to report back to Athena," Xin said as the sky above them rumbled with thunder. He looked up and sighed, "perhaps quickly as well. Looks like it'll be a pretty big storm."

* * *

><p>"What do you mean I can't go?"<p>

Athena pursed her lips as she answered Dante in a stern and firm voice. "I understand your frustration Dante, but just because you got your memories back, doesn't mean you could run around freely. Under my orders, you are _not_ to go searching for Alice. I already have several Aegis soldiers out looking for her in the surrounding areas. She'll be found soon enough."

"It's already been nearly three days since she disappeared!"

"Dante, I won't hear anymore of this. Understand me? You are not to leave Orbis unless it is for an assigned quest. I don't want to hear anymore from you." Athena got up from her seat and sighed. "Go home. Get some rest. You just got back from a quest this morning."

Unwillingly, Dante complied with what Athena said. "Yes, ma'am," he muttered under his breath.

He turned around to leave the council room, but was stopped when Athena spoke once more.

"You shouldn't worry about her anymore. Alice isn't your martyr anymore. You don't have any connections with her and I suggest you keep it that way."

"And why's that?"

"While we do promote a healthy relationship between a platoon leader and martyr, romantic relationships are discouraged."

Dante whipped around with a strong retort flying out of his mouth, "I don't-!"

"You do. You love her Dante and unfortunately, it took the ultimate toll on you. I did suspect that you two were in that sort of relationship back then, but I let it slide. That was until you got yourself killed because of her. Your love for her clouded your judgement of what you should and shouldn't do concerning Krylin."

"So?" he spat out, not wanting to hear anything Athena had to say. It was the first time he actually felt defiant against her. "Is this why you won't let Alice be my martyr? Even if she wasn't Lia's, you still wouldn't let her be my martyr." Dante shot the elf a narrowed glare. "Isn't that right?"

"It's for your own good, Dante. You may have been lucky this time, but next time...luck might not be on your side."

He grit his teeth and shouted, "I'll decide what's good for me or not! And I'm _going_ to go find Alice." Dante turned to leave.

"Dante, if you dare leave this room, I'll suspend you from quests for a whole month! And if you dare leave Orbis, then I'll personally see to it that you have your platoon leader position removed!"

Athena sighed in frustration when she saw Dante walk out of the room without a word. She pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. "Oh Goddesses, what am I going to do with that boy?"

After a few minutes later, Athena heard a knock on the large oak doors. She turned towards them and called out, "please come in!" Athena wondered if it was Dante, coming back to apologize, although she knew that, that would probably be the last thing he'd ever do.

"Miss Athena, we've returned from our quest," Xin said as he entered the council room. "And..." He stepped aside to reveal Alice. "I ran into Alice there."

"Alice?" The elf quickly walked over to them and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was indeed the blue haired warrior. "I guess I can call off the search now that you've been found. What exactly were you doing all the way in Victoria Island?"

"The people that kidnapped me...they worked for Krylin. I was taken prisoner in her castle." Alice lowered her head, remembering her frightening ordeal. "She thought that was the World Tree's seed. I don't know what she meant by that exactly..."

"What?" Athena asked, bewildered. "The World Tree's seed..." she muttered as she cupped her chin in thought.

"But, I was taken to this fairy...I remember that she said I wasn't," Alice quickly added in. "What exactly _is_ the seed, Miss Athena? Why does Krylin want it so badly?"

The female archer raised her head to look at Alice. "I'll discuss that with you tomorrow, Alice. It's a rather difficult matter to explain quickly. Could you please come by the council building tomorrow in the morning?"

"Sure..."

"Thank you. For now," Athena motioned for Minna and Ivan to step into the room rather than standing out in the hallway, "I'll need to speak with Xin and the matters of their quest. You should go home and rest, Alice. I'm sure you've been through a nerve-wracking ordeal."

"Oh...okay. Th-Thank you, Miss Athena. Goodnight-"

"Ah...you didn't happen to see Dante on the way in here, did you?" Athena asked to all four of them.

"Dante?" Alice asked. "Why?"

"Well, he went out to look for you Alice." The elf sighed and tucked a piece of white-blond hair behind her pointed ears. "He doesn't look like he'll give it a rest. You had better stop him before he leaves Orbis or else I'll have to remove him from the platoon leader status."

"He's...looking for me?" she asked in surprise. Alice remembered the last words they had exchanged before she had gotten kidnapped. They weren't real pleasant words, nor were they words that anyone could take too kindly. It was impossible that Dante had forgiven her that quickly, but she was left with no choice.

She wanted to see him, she wanted to apologize to him for all the things she said out of her own selfishness.

Without saying anything more, Alice ran out from the room.

Xin saw her leave and he smiled at her until she turned to run down the hallway.

_"Looks like you don't have any second thoughts or doubts anymore, Alice. You have always loved Dante, not me or anyone else. I hope you realize that now." _

* * *

><p>Alice exited the council building, but as soon as she stepped out onto the streets, the skies opened up and the rain started to come down. Ignoring her bad luck with timing, Alice ran through the streets, through the rain that now came down in sheets.<p>

"Where are you, Dante?" she whispered, "where?" She raised her voice, gradually gaining volume with each passing second. "Dante? Dante!...Dante! Where are you?"

She ran down the deserted streets and past houses that had their lights still on inside. She knew that the people inside could probably hear her shouting, but she didn't care at all.

The flash of lightning, soon followed by the booming sound of thunder showed that the storm was only getting worse. Alice felt cold, but she could feel her adrenaline pumping all through her body. Her legs continued to carry her from street to street. She had to wipe at her eyes to clear away the rainwater that had built up on her eyelashes ever few seconds.

"Dante!" she shouted one last time.

"...I heard you the first time, idiot."

Alice widened her eyes and turned around to face the man that held the voice she was so familiar with. She saw him approach her with a warm smile on his face. The look in his eyes were different than last time. The look in his eyes looked similar to the one that Alice was used to seeing three years ago.

She stood there speechless as he stood in front of her. All of the words that she wanted to say to him wouldn't come out and all she could do was stare up at him dumbly.

"Jeez," Dante whispered, taking off his black coat. He draped it over her head, shielding her from the rain. "You're still as crazy as you were before. Who would go running around the streets when it's raining this hard?"

Alice sniffled as she felt tears prickle at her eyes. "Dante," she choked out. Her bottom lip trembled as she brought her hand up to wipe away at her tears, even though they blended in with the rain. "Dante, I'm so sor-"

She felt him quickly cup her chin and tilt her head up. In no time, he captured her lips in a gentle kiss. Alice stared at him as he pulled away just slightly.

Dante smiled understandingly and kept his forehead on hers. "I know," he whispered. "But I think I should be the one apologizing. I should have told you everything. That's why I'm the one that should be saying so-"

Before he could finish his sentence completely, Alice threw her arms around him and kissed him. His coat that was draped over her head, fell to the puddle-ridden, cobblestone street. She could taste the rainwater upon his lips, but she could feel their warmth and that was more than enough for her.

Alice pulled away slowly and smiled as tears streamed down her face. "I know, stupid Dante. About time we apologized to each other."

The black haired man chuckled in agreement with what she had said. He placed his hands on her back and held her closely. "Took us long enough."

The two of them locked lips once more, keeping them there for much longer than before. This time it was different.

They both pulled away and they both laughed softly in each other's arms. Neither of them seemed to care that the rain had gotten worse and that it had gotten colder. They didn't seem worried at all about the lightning and thunder as they went in for another kiss.

"Does this qualify as our first kiss?" Dante asked her, who blinked in confusion.

"Eh? But-"

"It's the first kiss that both of us actually enjoyed."

Alice blushed and stubbornly turned away. "We-Well I don't know about 'enjoyed'..."

"Idiot, it's written all over your face."

She blushed heavily and turned back to him. "N-No it's not-!" Alice melted at another kiss he gave her. Without her knowledge, she leaned in closer to him, deepening the kiss. It felt wondrous. Behind her eyelids, she could see bursts of different types of colors. They looked beautiful and she knew that she could never see them if she kissed someone else.

However, as the two kissed each other without any regards as to what was happening around them, they failed to realize a figure watching them from afar.

This hooded figure peered out from behind a building and watched as the couple tangled themselves with each other. From underneath the shade of the hood, a pair of red lips curled up into a devious smirk.

"So that's Alice, hm?" Mary said, her blue eyes flashing mischievously. She giggled and crossed her arms over her ample chest. "If that's all I'm up against, then it'll be a piece of cake to take Dante. He'll be wrapped around my finger and she can't do anything about it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_I'M SORRY THAT I'M LATE WITH THIS CHAPTER. (Well a few hours late probably, but it's still late -sobbu- )_

_And I'm sorry again that it's another short chappie. The last few chapters were really sort of "wrapping up" the "Dante getting his memories back" arc. _

_So you ask, "what's going to happen now?" _

_Well, the next chapter you can definitely expect a longer chapter (how many times have I said that and delivered? Never mind, don't answer that) with...more exploration into the World Tree plotline, Meg and Sean finally going on a quest (with platoon leader guardianship), the reappearance of Alice's mom, Krylin's plot to turn the tables against a certain character, and of course Mary's plot to break Dante and Alice up. _

_Fun, fun, fun, I'd say :) -gets shot multiple times by Ivan- _

_Anyways, I will be elaborating more on the Silent Crusade alliance and other stuff that happened in the chapter. ESPECIALLY, Alice's transition into becoming a Dark Knight. That will definitely be described in detail in future chapters._

_In this chapter, she got face to face time with her Beholder spirit and it scared the shit out of her obviously. -pets Alice- Poor bby. :C -gets shot by Dante- _

_Well enough of that, on to the reviews! _

_I don't know if you guys know this already or not, but I really do read all of the reviews that are left on my stories. ALL OF THEM. I think I said this before, but I'm saying it again. I know some people think that once they leave a review, the author won't read it. BUT I do. _

_I know that I don't reply to a lot of them. I definitely do not reply to reviews using the PM function unless it's like really nitpicky for no reason (or just to bitch at me), but other than that, all reviews that have a specific question that I can answer at that point in time, will be replied to at the end of the following chapter. _

_I don't reply to reviews that say, "please update soon! I really love this story!" To be honest, I don't know what else to say other than "thank you." I'm definitely not ungrateful for those reviews. Simple or complex, I really do enjoy all encouraging reviews. It pleases me knowing that I can please you with my writing. _

_And to Deathly Betrayal, you know what? Your sprites are amazing. I really, really cannot express how much joy I feel whenever I see your new icon. It really means something to a writer if someone can make their words into a visible picture that people can physically see. So, I thank you for taking time out of your life to make something that wonderful. _

_I have come to the realization that there are a quite a few readers that have created something in relation to my story. Whether its fanart or fanfiction, I'll be mentioning all of them in the next chapter's A/N. Because you guys really deserve it. While I'm the one that actually writes all this, you, the fans of Aegis, are the ones that drive this and have essentially helped it become popular. _

_For that, I'm truly blessed to have fans like you guys. (I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything like that. It's true.) I bow down to you guys and Alice and Dante bow down to you guys as well. -shoves them down- _

_Now, to end this ridiculously long A/N, this is System signing off! (At least until next Saturday for the next update) _

_As always, please leave a review. It's really encouraging to me to see you guys enjoying my chapters. _


	19. Calm Before The Storm Pt 1

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 19 - Calm Before the Storm Pt.1**

"You're leaving already?"

Xin nodded, smiling wistfully. "Queen Nackt still needs me to organize her troops. I don't know when I'll be back again."

Alice nodded, still a bit sad that he needed to be elsewhere. "Good luck," she told him.

The black haired warrior chuckled softly and reached out to rub the top of her head. "Don't look so sad."

Xin glanced past her and saw Dante standing just a few feet behind her, letting her say her goodbyes. He simply smiled when he made eye contact with the archer.

"Just take care of yourself, okay?" he said to Alice.

"I can, don't worry."

"And take care of Dante too, you hear?"

Alice turned around slightly to look back at Dante, then back around to look at Xin again. She giggled softly and nodded. "I will."

"Good," he replied with an affectionate smile.

"...Xin?"

"Hm?"

The spearman blushed a little as she stammered out, "th-thanks for everything."

"Anything for you." Xin smiled and leaned forward to place a soft kiss on her forehead. He laughed when he saw her reel back in surprise. "I promise that doesn't mean I love you."

Alice felt him gently pat her cheek before leaving. She felt a slight ache inside of her chest as she saw his back turned to her and slowly walk away. _Did_ she really love him at some point? Maybe...

"Hey, what was that all about?" Dante grumbled, coming up behind her.

"What do you mean?"

He frowned when he saw the remaining pink flushes of a blush on her cheeks. "You know I didn't really mean it when I said for you to find someone else while I was gone."

Alice pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. "Xin's just a friend!" she retorted. "And stop being so jealous!"

Dante scoffed loudly. "Like I'm jealous of him!"

"And you call me an 'idiot'..." she muttered under her breath.

"What was that-?" Dante widened his red eyes when he felt her kiss him softly upon his lips.

Embarrassed with what she had done, Alice nervously fiddled with the hem of her orange mushroom shirt. Her blue eyes avoided his face as she mumbled, "it's not like I wanted to find someone else. Stupid..."

The raven haired archer tried to keep his cool, but that was easier said than done. Inside, his heart was pounding and his head was racing with many different thoughts, all generally surrounding or concerning Alice. Was she really his? Was he really hers? He would actually really like to kiss her again...

"U-Uhm..." Dante blushed and awkwardly cleared his throat. "We should probably get going."

Suddenly, Alice felt slightly self-conscious. Was she too assertive? Did he think she was too bold for kissing him like that?

"Right..." she said in a shy squeak.

They had both agreed to spend some time together, to catch up on the things that happened the past few years. They both knew that it was going to be hard, both listening to each other's stories and telling their own stories to each other, but they were willing to tell them.

"So much has changed while I was gone, huh?" Dante asked, as he and Alice walked through the sparsely populated marketplace. "Looks like the townspeople have settled into Orbis pretty well. This marketplace is similar to the one back in Henesys," he commented nostalgically.

"Yeah, everyone settled in well." Alice smiled as she looked around at the various items the merchants had for sale. Everything from food to odd trinkets had a price tag on them.

She turned and looked up at Dante, then quickly looked away. She suddenly felt nervous again as the main question flashed inside of her head.

_"Should we be holding hands right now? We're...a couple, right? ...I think..." _

Defeated by her own thoughts, Alice uneasily resorted to playing with her cyan blue hair silently.

"You don't put your hair up anymore," Dante suddenly commented, startling her.

"E-Eh? Oh!" Alice giggled. "I just decided to grow it out-" She stopped talking when she felt his hand run through her gently waved hair.

"It looks nice."

Despite the fact that it was a simple compliment, it was a compliment nevertheless. However, it carried more weight simply because it was Dante that said it to her. Alice felt her heart doing cartwheels in sheer joy. She felt juvenile for getting so worked up over something so simple, but she couldn't help it. Not when she realized how much she really loved Dante.

Her body tingled as his fingers brushed through her hair. The light tugs brought goosebumps upon her whole body.

She then felt the same hand place itself on her shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. Alice blushed a lovely pink in her cheeks and stammered out, "D-Dante...? This feels awkward..."

"Don't remind me," Dante replied with a small, embarrassed smile.

Alice saw this and let out a soft giggle.

She wasn't the only one feeling unsure and nervous. Dante was feeling the same way. They were both new and inexperienced to this and this thought alone brought Alice's nerves down to a slight ease.

"Are you hungry?" Dante asked. "Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Sure-"

"Hey Miss!"

The two of them stopped to look at the merchant that had shouted out for Alice. Once he had gotten their attention, the merchant smiled broadly and motioned for them to come over to his shop.

Curiously, Alice walked over to the small stall with Dante unwillingly following behind her.

"See anything you like, miss?" the merchant asked, smiling as he waved his hand over the many pieces of jewelry he had on display. "I'm sure white diamonds would suit you nicely because of your fair skin."

Alice giggled sheepishly at the compliment. "I don't know about that."

Dante let out a sigh at how easily Alice was being conned into buying something. The blue haired girl noticed him, but brushed it off, too entranced by the sparkling jewels in front of her.

As her sapphire blue eyes scanned over the dozens of earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, she came across a necklace with a delicate silver chain with an array of red rubies in the shape of butterfly wings.

"Do you like this one, miss? Rubies suit pretty girls such as yourself."

"We-Well, I don't think I'm _that_ pretty..." Alice laughed softly as she picked it up to inspect it closer. She was amazed with how beautifully the rubies sparkled in the sunlight. "How much is it?"

"One hundred thousand mesos."

Alice heard something inside of her drop at the price tag. Behind her, she could hear Dante mutter under his breath, "of course it's overpriced to death."

"Uhm, m-maybe next time. I don't have that kind of money on me." She placed it back on the display and kindly thanked the merchant before walking away.

"You get so easily tricked."

"What? No, I don't-!"

Dante rolled his red eyes and said, "he said everything suited you because he just wanted you to buy something. Idiot, if you had the money, you probably would have been conned into buying the whole shop."

Alice blushed and angrily shouted back, "why does it matter now? I didn't buy it!"

"You're just naive. It's going to get you in trouble some day and I won't be there to protect you."

The female warrior scoffed as she placed her hands on her hips. "I don't need you to protect me then! I'll be as naive as I want!" she retorted stubbornly.

He narrowed his eyes into an annoyed glare. "You're so damn stubborn!"

"You are too!"

"Good thing you didn't buy that necklace. It wouldn't have suited you anyways!"

Alice resisted the urge to hit him. "It would have!"

"It's for more "mature" _women_, not for little girls like you."

Peeved by what Dante said, Alice stormed away without another word. However, before she got too far, she sharply turned around and blew a raspberry at him.

"Why are you so childish?" he yelled as she walked away.

"You said that I was a "little girl," remember?" she shouted back.

Dante ignored the odd glances he received from the passing shoppers. He growled softly as he held his head. "I didn't mean it like that..." he grumbled. Why was it that every time he spoke with her, it would end in an argument? However, the most important question was...was their relationship already over?

"Who the fuck cares," Dante whispered under his breath as he walked in the opposite direction that Alice went towards.

As frustrated as he was though, he stopped when he came by the same jewelry stand where Alice saw the red butterfly necklace. Dante glanced at it, then let out a tired sigh as he held his head.

"Looking for something, mister?" the jewelry merchant asked with a broad, toothy grin.

Dante tried to look discreet about buying it, but he failed miserably. A nervous and blushing mess, Dante awkwardly cleared his throat and picked up the necklace Alice had wanted.

"How much did you say this was again?"

* * *

><p>"5000 mesos."<p>

Sean dropped the heavy end of his Tavar axe onto the ground. "Really Meg?"

The blond cleric nodded proudly as she held up her five fingers towards him. "If I win, you give me 5000 mesos."

"That's more than I have in my Ribbon Piggy bank!"

"Don't worry! If you win, then I'll pay you double."

Sean pouted his lower lip. "You _always_ win though."

"That's because you hesitate when you try to land a hit on me!" Meg giggled softly. "I told you not to hold back, and yet you still do!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

As the two squabbled in the middle of Orbis Park, they both failed to see Ciel approaching them. The delicate elf calmly watched their fight until it was Sean that finally raised his head to notice her. Meg turned around to see what or who had caught Sean's attention and she saw the beautiful elf walking up to her.

"O-Oh! Ciel! What brings you here?" she asked cheerfully.

It surprised both of them when Ciel flashed them one of her rare smiles.

"I'm just passing by. How are you Meg?"

"I'm fine! Erm...th-thank you for carrying me to the infirmary!"

"It was no problem."

Sean watched on as Meg and Ciel happily conversed with one another. Although he knew he shouldn't be jealous, he couldn't help, but feel that way. He felt as if Meg spoke to Ciel in a very loving way. A way that he secretly longed for her to talk in with him.

Perhaps the elf noticed the negative look that Sean was subconsciously giving her because she quickly said her goodbyes to Meg.

"You don't want to train with us?" Meg asked.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll have to pass. Maybe some other time."

"Oh, okay!" The blond cleric smiled happily as she waved Ciel off. "See you later then!"

Sean frowned bitterly. Even though he was male, Meg never saw him as one and instead, she treats Ciel, who was a girl, more like a man.

"Sean? Is something wrong?" Meg asked curiously, tilting her head slightly to get a better look at his downturned face.

Clenching his fists, Sean cautiously whispered, "Meg...am I...just a friend to you?"

"What?" she asked incredulously, caught off-guard by his question. "Why do you ask all of a sudden?"

"Just answer me."

"Y-Yes, Sean...I think of you as a friend but-"

"Do you even see me as a guy?" Sean yelled out, startling her.

Stunned by his vocal response, Meg stood there for a while in shock. Never before had she heard him yell so loudly at her. "I...I don't know-! Sean, I-I don't understand!" She stepped back from him, suddenly feeling scared because of his impulsive anger.

Sean managed to calm himself down just a bit, just so that he could see what he had done to Meg. She was looking at him with a frightened gaze. Her big blue eyes were shimmering with tears as she softly cried.

"I'm sorry, Sean," Meg cried.

Instantly, he felt regret for lashing out at her. In his own moment of anger and annoyance, he hurt her and made her cry.

"M-Meg..." The young boy cautiously approached her. Sean stared at her worriedly as he gently wrapped his arms around her. "Meg, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"Did I make you feel ba-bad, Sean?" Meg hiccuped out, looking up at him with tears streaming down her flush pink cheeks. "I didn't know! I didn't know you didn't want to be my friend."

Sean simply held her head against his small shoulder and felt his heart breaking at the sound of her cries. It was the first time he had actually hurt her and truthfully, it felt like it hurt him more.

"Is it true, Sean? You don't want to be friends with me?"

"Meg...we've been friends for a while now and-"

"So you don't!"

"No!" Sean bit back his tongue, nearly spilling out the fact that he liked her. "I...I do! But..."

"But?"

He didn't know what had driven him to take the next step, but it was impulsive just like his anger earlier. Sean planted a soft, awkward kiss on the corner of Meg's lips, then pulled away quickly.

The cleric blushed a bright red as Sean's cheeks slowly turned the same color. "S-Sean..." she stammered out.

Sean didn't say anything as he turned away, embarrassed with what he had done. He couldn't even bring himself to talk to her.

Meg brought her hand up to touch her lips. Even though he missed them, she could still feel a lingering sensation originating from the corner of her lips. "Sean...I don't know."

That wasn't what he wanted to hear. Sean snapped his head up to look at her and his blue eyes shimmered with desperation. "Meg, I-"

"I do have a lot of fun being around you. I really do! But...I...I just don't like you in the same way that you do."

"O-Oh..." Sean dropped his head in defeat. He wasn't sure if he should get angry again or if he should be sad. He just felt empty as Meg's words echoed through his head.

"I'm sorry. But...can we still be friends?" Meg offered up a small, hopeful, shy smile at him.

Even though Meg hadn't completely brushed him off, Sean couldn't help, but feel disappointed by this outcome. Seeing as how he couldn't just ignore her request, Sean smiled back at her, somewhat painfully and muttered, "yeah...friends."

* * *

><p>Dante sighed as he held the long, narrow, light pink gift box that held the ruby necklace that Alice wanted to buy earlier. He stared at it and grumbled, "I told him he didn't have to gift wrap it." His red eyes narrowed as an embarrassed blush crossed his face. "Might as well go find that idiot and give it to her."<p>

He couldn't help, but imagine the look on her face when he would give this gift to her.

She would probably smile. Yeah...most definitely smile. Maybe then she would giggle in that little shy and embarrassed way with a blush on her face. Then she'd sheepishly thank him and then ask him if she could kiss him. And then...

"_Oof!" _Dante bumped into someone while he was caught up in his gift-giving fantasy. Coming back to reality, he apologized to whoever he had bumped into.

"I'm sorry, I was-"

He raised his head and widened his eyes when he recognized the woman in front of him. "Uh-"

The blue haired woman adjusted her thin rimmed glasses and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well if it isn't the rude boy that mistook me for my daughter." Her Omega Sector name badge tagged just above her left breast, shined as she turned towards him. "I thought you were dead."

Dante rolled his eyes slightly. "Nice to meet you too, Ms. Everard."

The female doctor smirked as she crossed her arms over her large chest. "So, buying a birthday present for my daughter?"

"Huh?"

"That tacky box you have in your hands," she commented, motioning towards it.

Dante glared at her, even though she didn't seem to take notice. "I didn't realize it was her birthday."

Julia shrugged. "I'm assuming. I was under the impression that it was next week, but I could be wrong."

It amazed Dante at how lightly this woman was speaking of her own daughter's birthday. "Sounds like you don't really care that much."

"Heh," Julia said in a snide tone. "You have no idea how busy I am with my job, boy. I don't have time to be worrying about my children. I'm sure Athena and the rest of you Aegis members are taking good care of her. By the way, how's Lia? Last I heard, she was my daughter's new platoon leader."

"Maybe you should go ask her that yourself."

The doctor scoffed lightly as she adjusted her glasses again. "Still have that sharp tongue of yours, I see. Seeing as how you're buying things for my daughter, I think I'm safe to assume that you like her. Listen..." She walked up close to Dante and poked him in the chest with her finger. "I don't want you anywhere near my daughter anymore. You're not her platoon leader so, the relationship between you is over."

"You don't care about Alice, but you care about me being with her," Dante stated flatly, finding all of this ridiculous.

"I'd rather her find a man that can stay home and not wander off looking for adventure. And perhaps one that doesn't talk back so much. You being a platoon leader is all wrong for her. You'll always be off gallivanting to do some quests and never stay home."

"Is that what happened with your husband? Alice's father...-"

"Her father was a fool," Julia said sharply with a tone of great dislike. She shot a look of annoyance at him and turned away. "Don't go poking your nose where it doesn't belong, boy. And you'd do your best to stay away from Alice."

Dante glared at her as she walked away. He wasn't sure if 'hate' was a word strong enough to describe what he felt against her.

He switched his gaze down to the small gift box that she had called 'tacky.' Dante raised his eyebrow skeptically. It wasn't _that _tacky, was it?

Figuring that the doctor was just trying to play him, Dante brushed that thought aside, only to have a new notion fill his head - Alice's birthday. He wasn't exactly sure if he should take what her mother said to heart, but surely there must be some type of truth behind it.

"Her birthday, huh?" he muttered as he played with the small pink gift box in his hand.

* * *

><p>"Stupid. Arrogant. Selfish..."<p>

Alice continued to list off the various words that came to her mind that would describe Dante. As she did so, she would pick up a small pebble from the mound she managed to gather and throw them at a tree in front of her. Each rock bounced off the rough bark and fell to the soft grassy ground.

"Pig-headed. Stubborn-"

She paused at the word stubborn, not letting go of the pebble in her hands. A deep frown pulled at her lips and she threw it angrily at the tree. "I'm not the stubborn one!" she grumbled to herself. "I'm not the stubborn one," she repeated again, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Stupid Dante...he's the stubborn one. Not me."

Alice leaned her head against her knees and let her long blue hair curtain over her back and shoulders.

_"What was his problem anyways? So what if I'm naive? All I wanted was that necklace..." _

There was a sudden rustle and the sound of a twig snapping in half from behind her. Alice whipped around, a bit on-guard after her ordeal with being kidnapped.

"You don't need to act so hostile, it's just me," she heard Dante's voice say. He stepped out from the cover of the brush and scratched the back of his head, looking slightly apologetic.

Alice looked away from him and mumbled, "what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you obviously." Dante sighed as he helped himself to a seat on the ground beside Alice. "Seemed like this is the only place where you would go when you're pissed off."

"I wasn't 'pissed off'."

"You blew a raspberry at me."

"S-So?"

Dante chuckled as he leaned down to look at her face. "I knew it. You _are_ upset."

Blushing heavily in embarrassment, Alice sharply turned away her head and brought her knees in more towards her.

"I'm sorry," the archer said with a heavy sigh. "About what I said earlier. I didn't mean it." He saw her head move slightly in response to his apology. Dante brought the small pink box out that he had held behind his back.

Alice noticed it and curiously, she peeked at the gift box. "What's that?" she asked.

"Don't think that I got you this just because I wanted to apologize."

Her blue eyes widened when Dante opened up the box and pulled out the red butterfly necklace that she had wanted to buy earlier. "This is..."

The delicate necklace sparkled as he held it out in front of her. Dante smiled at the sight of her bewildered expression. "You don't like it?" he asked her.

"N-No! It's not that! But..." Alice stared at the beautiful piece of jewelry and then back at Dante. "I-I can't take this."

"Don't act so modest. I already bought it. It's not like I could ask the vendor for a refund."

"Well...not only that! You said that it doesn't suit me anyways..."

Dante raised an eyebrow and smirked a little at her as he unclipped the necklace. "We'll just have to see, won't we?"

Alice felt him turn her around gently by the shoulders and brought the necklace up over her head. She saw the glistening silver chain briefly for a moment before it was lowered down to her chest. Her heart raced as she felt him secure the necklace from behind.

"Hm," Dante said, contemplating as he brought out her cyan blue hair out from underneath the necklace. "Not bad," he said with a smile as he saw the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile of her own.

There was an overwhelming feeling of happiness swelling inside of Alice as she looked down at the small butterfly jewel resting on her chest. She gently touched it and blushed softly. "Dante...thank you-"

"-But..."

Much to Alice's confusion, he unclipped the necklace and took it off of her. She quickly turned around to face him and exclaimed, "why-?"

"I think I'll give it to you later."

"Eh?"

Dante placed the delicate necklace back into its case and snapped the box shut. "When's your birthday?" he asked, catching her off-guard by the sudden question.

"U-Uhm, in two days," replied Alice, not really putting much thought as to why he was asking that of her. The only thing on her mind was the necklace and when Alice reached out for the pink gift box, Dante held it out of her reach. "You're mean!" she shouted. "First you say that I'm stubborn and naive! Then now you give me something and take it awa-_mm_!"

She whimpered in response to the surprise she felt when she initially felt Dante's lips upon hers. When she felt him pull her closer, she felt as if her heart was melting into a pile of goo inside of her chest. Alice lowered her eyelids in pleasure as she looked at his face. At the distance that she was at, she could only see his closed eyes; his gentle eyelashes, his clean, black eyebrows lowered in concentration for the kiss.

Her cheeks flushed with bright red as he slowly opened up his eyes and pulled away from her.

"You'll get this necklace on your birthday. Seem fair?" he asked, smiling as he gently ran his thumb over her soft lips. Dante leaned down to give her another small peck. "Consider it your birthday present."

Alice, still stunned from the kiss, stuttered out, "my present?"

"You can take it if it's a present, right?"

She blinked, then looked down at the decorated pink box Dante held in his hand. Alice looked up at him again and nodded slowly in agreement. "I-I guess I can."

Dante smiled at her and added in, "maybe we could also spend some time together on your birthday."

Alice widened her blue eyes and blushed. She then shyly looked away and asked, "y-you mean...like a date?"

The black haired man brought his hand up to his lips and held it there as he tried vainly to cover his own blush. "Of course it's a date, idiot. Aren't we going out now?"

_Going out_ - those words brought a sudden onset of happiness rushing through Alice's body. She smiled bashfully and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

Dante glanced at her, finding that smile of hers heartwarming, knowing that he was the direct cause for it. Hiding his own smile, Dante cleared his throat and stood back up. "So, how about we meet at the fountain near the entrance of the park? Maybe around 6?"

Alice looked up at him and nodded, still with that ear to ear smile on her face. It was amazingly hard for her to hide her current feelings. She was practically ecstatic. Her heart was doing somersaults and her stomach was doing cartwheels inside of her. Her first _official_ date with Dante! _  
><em>

"Are you going to stay out here more?" he asked her.

"Eh? Y-Yeah, just for a little bit."

"Alright. I'll, uh, see you then?" Dante asked nervously, holding the back of his neck. It wasn't like he was an expert concerning these sort of things. Truthfully, he was a nervous wreck inside and he had to restrain himself from applying any more force around the gift box in his hand, or else he would have ruined Alice's present before her birthday.

She didn't seem to notice how nervous he was. Instead she nodded her head and continued to smile that sweetly happy expression he liked.

"Take care," he said, leaving her.

"B-Bye!" she said out after him.

Alice watched him until he left the area. As soon as he was gone, she held her hands over her mouth and gasped.

Did that really just happen? Did she just get asked out on a date?

She let out a series of soft, happy giggles as she sank to the ground. Was she happy? No...she was more than happy, perhaps even more than elated.

Alice smiled as she ran her thumbs over her lips continuously. She could still feel the tenderness and warmth of Dante's lips.

"Ah!"

Startled by the sudden female voice, Alice turned her head and saw a girl standing behind her. She got up to her feet and turned around completely to get a good look at her. Something inside of her froze a little when she saw that it was the girl that she had seen with Dante back in the marketplace - the girl that looked nearly identical to her.

"Hi!" the woman greeted cheerfully.

"H-Hello," mumbled Alice, a bit apprehensive of her.

"I'm sorry. I thought I saw my platoon leader walk by here."

"Your platoon leader?"

The woman nodded enthusiastically as she raised her hand up above her head a few inches. "He's around this tall, has black hair, kind of brooding maybe...his name's Dante. Did you see him?"

_"So she's Dante's new martyr..." _

Alice fiddled with her thumbs a little, feeling slightly envious that she was Dante's martyr, a position that she had once filled. But it didn't bother her so much that she felt any real animosity towards this girl.

"He just left a few minutes ago," she replied.

"Hm..." The other blue haired girl quirked her eyebrow and seemed to study Alice for a period of time before finally gasping loudly. "You must be Alice!"

"Eh?"

Smiling broadly, the busty blue-nette rushed up to Alice and took her hand. "You were Dante's old martyr, right? He mentioned you to me several times."

"H-He did?" Alice asked.

She giggled. "Of course! He'd always tell me how I looked so much like his old martyr!"

"Oh..." Alice felt a slight sting from what she heard. "So he did..."

"Well! Since I know your name, you should probably know mine. My name's Mary! Pleasure to meet you!" she exclaimed, shaking Alice's hand.

"Nice to meet you too-"

"Wow!" Mary exclaimed again, examining Alice's face up close, making the spearman feel slightly uncomfortable. "You and I really do look alike, don't we? It's like we're twins!"

Even Alice had to admit that the more she looked at Mary, the more their similarities were apparent. They had the same colored hair, same height, same build, similar facial features - well almost the same at least.

Alice couldn't help, but look down at Mary's very obvious cleavage showing proudly from a shirt that barely fit her. She looked away from Mary before she caught her looking. Indeed, despite their similarities, Mary had a more _developed _body and a more mature-looking face compared to her.

"Ah! I should probably go look for Dante. You know, important matters for a platoon leader and a martyr to discuss."

"R-Right..."

Mary lowered her eyes and smirked a little when she saw Alice's expression becoming more and more downfallen. Her subtle jabs were working.

"Alice! We should try to hang out sometime!"

"We should?" asked Alice, surprised with how spontaneous and forward this girl was.

"Shouldn't we? I mean, it's not everyday that you run into someone that looks like you!" Mary said, giggling. "It would be really cool if we could be friends! Don't you think?"

Not wanting to come off as 'rude,' Alice simply nodded with a weak smile. "Sure," she replied half-heartedly.

"Awesome! How about we meet up tomorrow? I'd really like to get to know you more!"

Once again, Alice offered up nothing more than a listless response. "That sounds good."

Mary smiled brightly and gave Alice's hands one last squeeze. "See you then!" she exclaimed as she ran off. As she left Alice, Mary smirked in amusement.

"She's easier to break than I thought. This'll be an easy win."

* * *

><p>"It was really nice of Miss Athena to let us stay in Orbis for a while, right?"<p>

Minna cheerfully made the single bed in their small room in the barracks.

Ivan looked around the bleak and rather dreary looking room as he silently closed the door behind him. Inside the whole room, Minna was the only thing that looked colorful.

He trained his eye on her as she hummed softly while setting the white sheets. Ever since he and Minna made love to each other, he couldn't help, but want her even more.

His body yearned for hers, almost painfully.

"I suppose Miss Athena doesn't want us to stay in Orbis for too long since she didn't ask for our possessions to be sent up from El Nath. What do you think Ivan-?" Minna turned around to face the blonde pirate and blushed when she saw the want and lust in his eye as he stared at her.

Ivan walked up to her slowly and took her into his arms.

"I-Ivan...I know that I said we can when we come back, but-!"

"Minna...something's wrong with me," whispered Ivan, softly burying his nose into the soft tendrils of her orange hair. He let out a low sigh and held her tightly.

"There's something wrong with you, Ivan?" she asked, pulling away from him.

Minna looked up at his face and saw a desperate look crossing his face. He seemed genuinely worried as he muttered, "I want to be with you."

Her red wine eyes shined with confusion as she tilted her head slightly and looked up at him. "What are you talking about? You're already with me Ivan." She smiled warmly and cupped his face.

"No..." Ivan whispered, desperate for her touch. He gently took her hand and brought it down his neck and over his chest. "I want more."

Minna could feel the warmth of his skin against her fingertips. Curiously, she touched the nape of his neck and noticed his shuddering softly. "Is...something wrong here?" she asked softly.

Ivan didn't say anything as the cleric pulled off the brown overcoat he wore.

They carelessly let the article of clothing fall to the ground with a dull thump.

With her nimble fingers, Minna managed to untie the knots that held his white blouse to his body. When she untied the last knot, she slipped the blouse off his skin, letting the soft cotton drag against his pale torso before it joined his brown overcoat on the floor.

Her nervous hands fluttered over his body and Ivan trembled as he closed his eyes. There were shocks of pleasure resonating through his body whenever she touched him.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Minna asked shyly. She ran her soft fingertips against the various scars that were on his body. The ones that had been left after his right eye got damaged.

She smiled at him lovingly as she led him to the bed. They sat down and immediately Minna removed his hat. She dropped it to the floor and reached around behind his head to untie the red bandanna that covered his disfigured eye.

It had been a while since she his eyes, or at least what was left of it.

His eyelid and the area around it was an ashy gray, indicating that it was nothing more than dead skin. The eye had been completely gouged out by Krylin in their last battle against her. Minna could still remember the amount of blood that came out from Ivan's eye.

"I should have been more careful," he muttered as she ran her thumb over his sealed eyelid.

"Huh?"

"I made you worry because I lost my regeneration."

Minna smiled fondly at him as she gently traced his prominent jaw line. "You saved me back then, Ivan. I'm just happy you're alive now."

"But-"

She gently placed her index finger on his lips, silencing him. "I'm not worried anymore. I know you can take care of yourself. Besides...I'll always be there to heal you, just in case." Minna giggled as she swept away his long blond bangs away from his disfigured eye.

Ivan felt the corners of his lips turn up into a little smile. He carefully wrapped his arm around Minna's small waist and brought her close to him. "Would you heal me right now?"

The strawberry blond cleric laughed lightly before giving Ivan a sweet kiss. As she pulled away, she leaned against him, slowly pushing him down on the bed.

"Where does it hurt?"

* * *

><p>At first, Sean really didn't pay much attention to what Athena Pierce was telling him and Meg about their first <em>chaperoned<em> quest. Instead, he found himself only stealing glances at Meg, who stood beside him.

Unlike him, she was listening intently to what Athena was telling them.

He couldn't help it though. What she had told him yesterday still remained clear in his head. Friends - that was what she wanted them to be. Nothing more and nothing less, _just_ friends. _  
><em>

Sean made a little disgruntled look on his face, apparently noticeably enough that Athena commented on it.

"Mr. Everard?"

"H-Huh?"

The elf cocked her eyebrow up and stared back at him with a rather annoyed look on her face. "Is what I'm saying bothering you that much?"

Sean quickly shook his head and muttered an apology. "I'm sorry, Miss Athena."

The elven archer cleared her throat softly and resumed what she was talking about. "In any case, this quest won't be _too _easy, but it won't prove to be that difficult either. All you will be doing is gathering herbs and medicines for one of our platoon leaders."

Athena stood up from her seat and motioned over to one of the side doors to her right. "You may come in now, Froid."

The wooden door opened up and revealed their chaperon platoon leader. The man stepped out and flashed a warm, inviting smile to both Meg and Sean.

"You two must be the Academy students to accompany me. "

As he smiled again, Sean couldn't help, but have his eyes drawn to the man's pearly white teeth. They were an amazingly clean white. If he had smiled any wider, Sean was sure he would be blinded.

The brown haired man walked up to them and shook each of their hands gently. "My name is Froid Hermes. Pleased to meet you both."

He was tall and lanky, this fact hidden slightly by his long flowing robes. It seemed as though he was constantly adjusting the frameless glasses resting on the bridge of his nose as he greeted them. On the back of his waist, there was what appeared to be a golden wand with a large spherical end that glowed a dull blue aura.

"I trust that you'll teach them the ropes, Froid?" Athena asked of the seasoned ice mage. "Safely?"

The man bowed, his shoulder length brown hair falling past his face. "Of course." He turned back towards Meg and Sean and closed his blue eyes as his face warmed up into another gracious smile. "Shall we go then?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_I apologize for not updating in like 2-3 weeks now?  
><em>

_I had finals to worry about and turning in last minute assignments qq. _

_BUT! That's all over and done with and I am now on summer vacation! But...I might not be updating that much for the month of June only. Mainly because I'm so pumped up for two anime cons I'm attending! (Why yes, so sue me for cosplaying and attending them. They're fun as hell) _

_This weekend I'll be going to AM2 and two weeks after, I'll be attending Anime Expo! Really, really excited! I'll be cosplaying Zero Kiryuu from Vampire Knight and Kaito from Vocaloid for Anime Expo and only Kaito for AM2. If you see me, feel free to say hi! _

_Anyways, this does mean that I'll be devoting my time and energy to my cosplays so there might not be another update until July. I'll do my best to have "part 2" of this chapter out before the end of June, but it's iffy. _

_I apologize again for how slow and boring this chapter might be. But, I just had to introduce another new character and this chapter (along with it's part 2) is all building up to the next action filled, plot driven event. I assure you, after the next chapter, there will be plot twists, action, and suspense. (Hopefully...) And everything that has happened in this chapter and will happen in the next will all be relevant to moving the plot forward._

_On the sidenote, HOLY SNAPS. FF dot NET, YOU FINALLY HAVE BOOK COVERS.  
>I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS FEATURE! I already updated the cover for my "Aegis: Love Is In the Air" fic. (Yes, it's my drawing of Dante and Alice kissing ~) I'll definitely be drawing something to use as a book cover for Aegis and Aegis: Fragments.<em>

_And as I said in the previous chapter, I'll be promoting some of the other authors that have decided to include the Aegis in their own fanfics! _

_First fic is 'One Bullet' by IEezAsian. The chapters are short, but the plot shows potential and I enjoy reading it! Hope you guys will too! _

_Second fic is 'Altaria: Land Of The Sky' by Deathly Betrayal. Aside from making awesome spites of the Aegis characters, she has her own cast of awesome characters. Especially her main character is quite interesting to me aha. _

_Third, is not a fic, but rather a shoutout to a girl that takes time out of her life to draw some of the characters in my fic. Yes, ThanhnuFia, I'm talking about you. You're just awesome! It brings me nothing, but joy to see someone else drawing fanart for my fic. Like, seriously. Thank you. If you guys haven't checked out her drawings yet, go to her deviantart page. It's amazing. _

_If anyone that has used the Aegis in their fics or have drawn art on my fic want a feature in the future A/N's, just PM me and I'll be happy to feature you! _


	20. Unfeeling Pt 2

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 20 - Unfeeling Pt.2**

"Why should we comply to the demands of those rebels?" a female platoon leader spat out from one end of the table.

"Perhaps there's truth in what they say! Perhaps it is time for us to strike upon Krylin's power! I believe three years is far too long for the Aegis to be cowering in the shadows. We should reclaim what was once ours!"

"With our manpower right now, we'd be committing suicide!"

An argument quickly erupted among the gathered platoon leaders at the meeting table.

Both Dante and Cedric stayed out of it, letting the elderly leaders squabble it out.

"Looks like we could be here a while," the green haired bandit said with a loud yawn. He kicked his feet up to the table and leaned back on his chair, only to fall back awkwardly.

Dante looked down at his fallen friend with a glare. "This is a serious matter," he whispered under his breath as Cedric got himself back up.

Lazily, Cedric waved his hand as he plopped down on his chair. "Everyone's just making a big deal out of nothing. From what Xin told Athena, the Silent Crusade would join us if we took back Ellinea and Henesys. Come on...that's a piece of cake. It's not like we need to conquer the whole of Victoria Island."

Dante scoffed lightly with a little smiled tugging at the corner of his lips. "You're sounding confident."

"It's not confidence if it can be easily done," Cedric replied as he shrugged. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking a nap."

"Oi, Cedric! You can't just fall asleep-!"

The whole meeting hall fell into a deep silence as soon as the large marble doors opened up to reveal Athena with the other three council leaders.

Immediately, Cedric sat up straight in his seat, trying to hide the fact that he was trying to fall asleep. "Really strange how she has such great timing like that," he muttered under his breath as he glanced at Athena.

The elf walked towards the table of platoon leaders with a certain air of cool and level-headedness. Her white and light green colored robes seemed to flow as she stood there over looking all of them.

"I assume that you cannot come to a proper conclusion?" she asked of all of the platoon leaders.

"Everyone is split," one of the older platoon leaders said, holding onto his wooden cane. "We cannot come to a unanimous decision."

"Isn't it obvious that we need to take back Victoria Island as soon as possible?"

"Nonsense! How many times does this need to be said? We lack the manpower! Do you want all of our soldiers to die by the sheer numbers of Krylin's army?"

"What we lack for in numbers, we make up with skill and tactics! We have some of the best fighters!"

"As do they," Athena commented calmly. "We shouldn't go into Victoria Island while underestimating Krylin. We still do not know the full extent of her powers and influence. If we're not careful, sending any of our troops to the island would be murdering them. We must come to an agreement soon."

Grendel waved his hand and the marble doors behind the four council leaders was sealed shut.

Cedric saw this and groaned. "Great. They're locking us in. We'll be in here forever."

"It's only until the platoon leaders come to an agreement," Dante whispered.

"Exactly."

* * *

><p>Alice shifted uncomfortably on the wooden bench as she glanced at Mary, who was happily licking away at her ice cream. Simply put, it was awkward for Alice to be sitting next to her. She didn't exactly know why she felt so awkward. It wasn't like she hated Mary or disliked her...or maybe she did...a little bit...<p>

"Isn't it good?" Mary exclaimed. "It's some of the best ice cream in Orbis!"

Alice smiled a little and licked her slowly melting strawberry ice cream. "Y-Yeah, it's good."

"It's so great to finally sit down and talk with you! Especially after I heard a lot of stories about you from Dante." Mary placed her index finger on her chin and looked up at the bright blue sky in thought. "Let's see...what was one that he told me? He told me you were a good martyr for one. Oh! And he mentioned that you two were pretty close!"

"He...did?"

Mary nodded. "He was so stubborn when he first met me! It was like he didn't want me as a martyr!"

A swell of joy fluttered around inside of Alice's chest at what Mary told her. That's right...Mary wasn't replacing her. Dante would never-

"But, he's starting to warm up to me now. Hopefully we could be as close as you two were!"

Alice felt the swell of joy disappear as quickly as it had came. "Uhm...y-yeah. I hope so too..."

As Mary licked at her vanilla ice cream, she smirked slightly when she saw the desolate, depressed expression Alice had on her face. _"How pathetic,"_ she thought, _"so easy to break."_

"So, Alice-!"

The busty blue-nette was interrupted when two young men walked up to the two of them.

"Hey, are you two, twins?" the brown haired one asked.

"Afraid not," replied Mary, adding in a little giggle.

"Aw...but still, we both think you're both cute. Mind if you spare us a bit of your time?"

"I don't mind," Mary said with a flirty wink. "But I have to see what my friend has to say."

Alice quickly shook her head. "S-Sorry...I have a boyfriend," she mumbled out.

"Really? Damn!" The two boys laughed. "We knew that you guys were probably taken, well, worth a shot anyways. Alright then, take care."

"Bye," Mary sang out as she waved them off. However, as soon as they left, she turned around towards Alice and exclaimed, "why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?"

"It never really came up," Alice replied with a nervous laugh. Although truthfully, the real reason why she hadn't said anything was because of Mary's position as Dante's martyr.

"Who is he? Is he nice? Is he cute?" The blue haired paladin gasped softly and widened her eyes. "Is it Dante?"

Blushing a bright red, Alice stuttered out quickly, "n-no! Of course not!"

Mary giggled at the other girl's reaction and nudged her softly with her elbow. "You don't need to be shy. He's a little rough around the edges, but he's a good catch."

"I told you it's not him!" Alice whined.

"If you say so." Mary shrugged. "But whoever he is, you sound like you really like him."

"I do?"

"I know when a girl's in love and you sound just like it."

Nervously, Alice scratched at the dry waffle of her ice cream cone. "I-I know Miss Athena doesn't approve of relationships within the Aegis, so please don't make a big fuss about this."

"Ah! So it _is_ Dante! I knew it!"

Alice didn't say anything, fearing what Mary might say back to her now that she found out about her relationship.

"Well...I'm rooting for you two!" exclaimed Mary, energetically.

"Eh?" Alice turned her head to face the older woman in surprise. "Really?"

"Of course! What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't support your relationship? And don't worry, I don't have any interest with Dante," she replied with a wink.

Immediately, Alice felt a wave of relief from Mary's words. She didn't have any interest in Dante - how perfect! There was no need for her to worry so much, especially when Mary seemed as though she was genuinely supportive of her relationship with him.

"And you can count on me to keep your secret from Athena and the rest of the Aegis council. You won't hear a peep out of me. Here-" Mary held out her pinky, "-I promise."

Happily, Alice wrapped her own pinky around Mary's in confidence and smiled. "Okay."

* * *

><p>Dante leaned his head against his right elbow as he watched the more vocal platoon leaders argue and fight with each other over the decision whether to reclaim Henesys and Ellinia or not.<p>

Except for him, Cedric was fast asleep in the chair next to him, snoring loudly as well, and some of the old, senior platoon leaders kept their chatter down to a minimum.

The whole council room was in disarray with no sign of anyone coming to a solid agreement.

Dante watched some of the other platoon leaders toss arguments, insults, and ideas to each other. Eventually, he found himself growing tired of it and wished he could sleep as peacefully as Cedric was.

"Tired?"

He turned around behind him and saw Lia.

"A little bit," replied Dante, lightheartedly.

Lia chuckled softly and took a seat in the empty chair beside him. "Well, these meetings aren't for everyone." She motioned towards Cedric. "Your friend seems to be enjoying himself."

Dante looked over at Cedric again and scoffed lightly. "He was never one for these types of meetings. Or any type of meeting for that matter."

"Hm, well you two are the youngest out of all of the platoon leaders. I wouldn't expect you to find these enjoyable," Lia replied with a smile. Her head turned towards the rest of the platoon leaders who now sounded like they were verbally harassing each other and to be honest, Dante thought the whole scene looked more humorous than serious.

"What do you think about this whole situation?" Lia asked of him.

"Of course I'd like for the Aegis to take back Ellinia and Henesys. It's where I grew up. And - " Dante clasped his hands together on the table in front of him. "- I left someone back there."

"Who?"

"Someone who took care of me when the people I called 'my parents' weren't there."

Lia dropped her head. "I-I see." Hearing those words straight from her son's mouth hurt more than she could imagine. "You talk as if they abandoned you."

"They did," Dante replied without any hint of hesitance or doubt in his voice. "I could never really find any records of them in the archives. Only traitors have their records destroyed. What else am I supposed to believe about them?"

The fire mage remained silent, feeling an overwhelming surge of guilt and shame run through her body.

"My last name - _Kyudo_ - I only found out that was my last name when I was able to read. Cedric's parents never told me, Athena never told me, I had to find out myself. I snuck into the Aegis archives when I was only five." Dante tightly squeezed at his hand. "All the other kids around me had parents, why didn't I? I wanted to find out."

"But...you said the records of your parents..."

"I managed to find one. An old platoon leader roster. It only had their names on it, but that was more than enough. Cedric's parents had told me my parent's first names. It wasn't that hard."

Lia turned away and pursed her lips as she tried to stop her fragile hands from shaking.

"Cecilia...and Alec."

She flinched a little at the sound of her real name. It had been so long since she's heard that name being called by anyone else.

"Those were their names," Dante continued, "followed by Kyudo." He smiled a little and let out a dry chuckle. "I had trouble pronouncing that when I found out my last name - Kyudo. I don't understand why my real last name was kept from me."

Lia bowed her head and didn't say anything. She knew that Dante would get suspicious of her silence, but luckily, their attention was diverted back to the main discussion in the council room.

"It seems as though a decision must be made through us four council leaders instead, seeing as how the platoon leaders cannot come to an agreement." Athena stood up from her seat and looked over the large table where all 10 platoon leaders were gathered.

"But, Miss Athena, we just need Froid here in order to settle the vote-!"

The elf swung down her hand, signalling for the elderly platoon leader to cease speaking. "I won't hear anymore of it. We are wasting precious time debating over this matter. The rest of the council leaders and I have come to an agreement and we wish that everyone would respect it no matter how much it may go against your own decision."

Athena narrowed her icy blue eyes in the direction where Dante and Cedric sat. She cleared her throat loudly and sharply shouted, "Cedric!"

Dante nudged his sleeping friend in the ribs with his elbow. He stifled a groan of embarrassment when the green haired bandit let out a snort before waking up.

"Is it finally over?" Cedric asked sleepily at Dante.

"It is actually," Athena said. She cleared her throat again and turned back towards Grendel, who gave a slight nod of his head at her.

The elf turned back towards the platoon leaders and gently placed her hands down on the table. "We've come to the difficult decision...we should take back what was once ours and drive Krylin's forces out of Ellinia and Henesys."

The whole room immediately lit up with conversation.

"The Silent Crusade was right. We were cowards. We let Krylin win that day and we didn't do a thing about it. That's why, we will take back our two cities in two weeks time."

* * *

><p>"Wow, you're really going "all out" aren't you?"<p>

Alice blushed and sharply turned around to face Ada, who was languidly sitting on the edge of her bed.

"It's a date!"

The thief giggled at how embarrassed Alice looked. "I was only kidding. You look good." Ada looked over the soft pink and white casual dress Alice had on. "You didn't borrow it from Minna, right?"

"Of course not." Alice turned back towards the full length mirror in her room and fixed the white bow at her waist. "I thought I should wear something new...so I went out and bought it yesterday."

Ada smirked and glanced over at the pink sandal heels on the floor next to the bed. "You buy these shoes yesterday too?"

"S-So what if I did?"

"Oh nothing." Ada leaned over and smiled at her friend. "You must really like him."

Alice bit her bottom lip and pretended like she didn't hear Ada as she fixed her softly waved cyan hair into two small pigtails.

"I think it's about time you two became boyfriend and girlfriend. I got tired of waiting."

The spearman's cheeks flushed a bright pink as she spun around to face Ada again. "D-Don't refer to us like that! It sounds so weird..."

"What? Isn't that what you two are? Dante's your boyfriend and you're his girlfriend." Ada shrugged nonchalantly and fell back on Alice's bed. "Well, I guess it's just one of those things that you have to get used to hearing."

Alice stuck out her bottom lip in a slight pout as she went back to fixing up her hair. "I-I guess..." she mumbled out. "I'm just glad I didn't bump into Dante when I bought these. He probably would have laughed at me or something...knowing him."

"Nah, he should be grateful you're going through all this just to look good for him." Ada waved her hand over at Alice. "At least, he should be. One thing that makes guys happy is if they have a pretty girl walking beside them." The black haired girl flipped herself over so that she was lying on her stomach. She pointed towards Alice and said, "make sure you hold his hand."

"Eh? Why?"

"Haven't you been listening?" Ada let out an exasperated sigh. "Imagine, Dante will be happy enough that you look this pretty while walking next to him. He'll be ecstatic when you're holding his hand or clinging to him. You make him yours, do you understand?"

"Since when were you so experienced with guys?"

"It's just common sense. Oh, right-" Ada sat up and got off of Alice's bed. "You're getting ready for your birthday date and I almost forgot to give you your present." She flashed a toothy grin and fished out a small decorative box from the pocket of her shorts. "Happy Birthday, Alice."

Alice smiled happily and took it. "Thanks."

She threw her arms around her friend and then stepped back. "What is it?" she asked curiously, tugging at the ribbon that held it together.

"Just open it. Then you'll find out." Ada laughed as Alice's opened the package.

When the fancy wrapping fell to the ground, so did Alice's jaw. Inside was a thin silver bracelet. Alice gently touched the thin silver chain. "It's so cute..." she said in awe.

"Want me to put it on for you?"

Without waiting for Alice's answer, Ada plucked the bracelet from her friend's hand and quickly fastened it around her wrist. "There." Ada smiled and patted the bracelet on Alice's wrist. "It looks a lot better than I thought it would!"

Alice blushed softly and stared at the bracelet. "Thank you so much for this, Ada. Really."

"It's the least I can do." The assassin smiled and hugged her. "I shouldn't have left you alone these past years. I should have stayed, as a friend would have."

"It's not your fault. I'm not blaming you for anything." Alice smiled into Ada's shoulder. "I'm the one that should be apologizing. I let everything get to me."

Ada giggled softly as she pulled away. "Well, you should get ready for your date. It's in an hour, isn't it? I'm sure you'll be fine. You both like each other. There's nothing to feel uncomfortable about." The black haired girl giggled again when Alice blushed.

"Just make sure you don't stay out too late."

"Eh? Late?"

Ada quirked her eyebrow and her lips formed into a sly smirk. "You know..._late. _Unless of course, you don't mind it."

Slowly getting at what Ada was saying to her, Alice blushed harder and shouted, "D-Dante wouldn't do that! Especially with someone like me..."

"Whatever you say," Ada said with a shrug of her shoulders, "but remember, Dante's still a healthy guy that wants to do what other healthy guys do which is...-"

"No more Ada! Do I need to remind you about what you and Cedric did?"

Ada promptly drew back and turned a beet red in her cheeks. "Wh-What are you talking about? That was just a one time thing!"

"You still did it!"

"You're lucky you're going on a date soon, or else I would so hit you," Ada grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

* * *

><p>"Got another one!" he could hear Meg cheer from the other side of the field.<p>

Sean glanced at her, expertly coaxing another nependeath plant to give up its seeds to her. He looked away after a few minutes and went back to his own plant, which was small and barely shot out any of its toxic poison.

He let out a soft sigh as he watched his little plant attempt to spray him with poison.

"You should probably find another nependeath. That one probably won't give you any seeds."

Sean turned his head to see Froid walking up to him. "I was just-"

"Something on your mind, Sean?" the kind ice mage asked, smiling gently. His glasses caught a bit of the sunlight as he knelt down beside the warrior. "You look like someone who has a heavy burden."

"Well...I wouldn't say burden, but...maybe something like that," Sean mumbled.

"It's best not to dwell on it for too long," Froid replied, smiling. He patted the young warrior on his back and stood up. "You're young, you shouldn't have anything to worry about that deeply."

"Maybe..."

The ice mage chuckled, then turned towards Meg, who killed off another nependeath plant. As she was harvesting the seeds, Froid called out to her.

"Miss Aomori! Shall we make our way down Orbis Tower? We'll need some items from El Nath as well!"

Meg perked up at what Froid said and she eagerly ran over to them. "Of course! I can't wait to go visit El Nath - finally!"

Froid chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Glad to see that you're quite energetic. Come. We should try to make it to El Nath before nightfall. We'll be spending the night at one of the inns there before continuing."

Meg happily followed Froid, paying not much attention to Sean.

The blue haired boy stood up onto his feet and dusted himself off of any loose dirt. He watched the cleric leave him behind and he wondered if Meg was ignoring him all together.

That couldn't be...right?"

The corner of his lip turned into a frown as he half-heartedly kicked the dirt in front of him, accidentally spraying the tiny nependeath plant. It let out a cry of discomfort, but Sean barely paid much attention to it. He was too occupied with what was happening between him and Meg.

"I just messed everything up...didn't I?" he asked himself quietly as he followed Froid and Meg out of the nependeath field.

* * *

><p>The bell chimed five times. On the fifth time, Alice nervously wrung the tweed handles on her small bag.<p>

She showed up an hour early and her nerves were getting to her. Time seemed to move so fast, but the surroundings seemed to move so slowly.

Alice sighed and tried to relax herself, but it didn't work. Her whole body shook and eventually, she stood up in frustration and kicked the ground with the sole of her heels.

"Relax, Alice!" she told herself. "It's just a date! It's just a date...with...Dante."

Her lips pursed up and again she let out a frustrated groan. "Come on! Pull yourself together!"

Alice dropped her head and plopped down on the edge of the fountain again. It was useless. She couldn't contain her excitement and anxiety.

"Stupid Dante," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's all his fault."

As she sat there, a cold wind began to stir up.

Alice hugged herself, shivering slightly as she turned around to look behind her. There were gray clouds looming off in the distance and she peered warily at them as they inched closer towards Orbis.

* * *

><p>"Is it over?" Cedric groaned, falling back into his chair.<p>

Dante turned his head to look out the window and spotted some dark storm clouds rolling into Orbis' clear skies. "I hope so..." he muttered as he glanced over at the small silver clock that was hung next to the window. It was nearly six o' clock. He had to go meet Alice soon.

He turned his attention back towards the other end of the long council table and continued listening to what the princess of Mu Lung had to say.

"My father sent me here in order to aid the Aegis army with overthrowing Krylin." Mytsu faced Athena and the rest of the council members and sharply stated, "we'll be providing you with the heavy artillery and the weapons needed for your troops."

"Are you sure about this?" Athena questioned, skeptical that such a small girl can carry out a command as bold as what she said.

"Of course!" Mytsu exclaimed loudly. "I assure you that the citizens of Mu Lung wholeheartedly support the Aegis in winning this war. All we want is peace and we believe that the Aegis can provide just that."

"I appreciate the confidence you place in us," the elven archer answered with a generous bow. "Your weapons will be of great use to us, but you will need to collaborate with Queen Nackt in El Nath on this matter."

"Why's that?"

"Her troops are the ones that are in the most need for the extra weapons. And she will be doing most of the leading for many of the Aegis soldiers as well."

"And is she in El Nath?"

Athena nodded. "Yes, I'll arrange for an escort to send you to the town of El Nath tonight. There, you'll meet one of our platoon leaders, Froid Hermes. He'll take you to Nackt's palace. I'll send word to Xin, who is assisting her majesty with her troops. He'll be your bodyguard until it is time for our invasion." The elf gave her attention to the rest of the platoon leaders that were still seated at the long table.

"As for the platoon leaders, you will all need to start battle preparations within your units. Make sure you collaborate with your martyrs and I will be assigning each and every one of you specific tasks for the invasion soon."

The pale elf let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. "Dismissed."

The whole hall was instantly filled with the sound of chair legs being scrapped against the marble floors as all of the platoon leaders left. There was some excited chatter among everyone, based on what was discussed.

Dante, on the other hand, practically shot up from his seat and turned to leave as soon as possible.

"What's the hurry?" Cedric asked, yawning loudly.

"It's Alice's birthday today," the black haired man mumbled, a bit embarrassed to admit it. "I promised that I'd take her out on a date."

"Oh?"

Dante glared when he saw the sly smile that Cedric had on his face. How he hated seeing that smile, especially when it was directed at him. "Don't do that," he muttered, shoving his friend away by his face.

Cedric laughed and threw his arm over Dante's shoulders. "Come on! You expect me not to? My darling Dante is finally going on a full-fledged date!"

"Don't call me that."

The bandit playfully pinched Dante's cheeks and laughed again. "Alright, alright. Just make sure you don't keep her out too late."

"Huh?"

"You know..._late_. I know you have your urges too, even though you're as straight-laced as they come-"

Dante turned a slight pink in the face at what Cedric was implying and he growled as he shoved his friend away. "Ada was right, you are a pervert."

"Relax. I was joking." Cedric smiled, but his smile immediately faded as they both walked out of the council room.

"What's wrong?" the archer asked curiously.

"This," Cedric said, moving his hand up and down as his eyes went over Dante. "You're not planning to go out on your date in your battle armor, are you?"

"It's not like I have time to go change. I'm late enough as it is."

The green haired man sighed as he placed his hands over Dante's shoulders. "Well," he ran his hands up and down the archer's toned arms. "At least this shirt shows off your arms. Girls like guys with strong arms, you know."

Dante self-consciously pulled away and held his arm. "Don't you have any useful advice or anything for a date?" he grumbled, wondering if what Cedric said had any hint of truth in them.

"Yeah. Change your clothes."

When Dante shot his friend a deathly glare, Cedric sighed and waved his hand. "Fine, fine. Just don't act so gloomy and you'll be fine."

"I'm not gloomy-"

"You're gloomy. Come on, Dante-" Cedric clung onto his friend's arm "-pretend I'm Alice."

"I'd rather not."

"If she's holding onto you like this, you can't just remain unresponsive!"

At that moment, a flash of lightning lit up the skies and the corridor of the dim council building.

"Damn it. I got to go." Dante shook of Cedric from his arm and ran past the other platoon leaders that were walking in front of them. When he ran out to the entrance, he saw the first signs of rain starting to pour down.

Each drop felt ice cold as he ran out onto the streets. Dante initially ran towards the fountain, where he and Alice agreed to meet, but he stopped himself when he realized that he didn't have her gift on him. It was back in his room at the barracks.

For a while, Dante stood there at the crossroads, wondering if he should go towards the fountain and meet Alice first or go to the barracks to retrieve her present. When the rain started to come down harder, he shook his head and made up his mind to go to the barracks first.

_"No way that idiot's sitting out by the fountain, especially when it's raining this hard." _

He assumed that Alice would be at her house and he decided to go there after he got her present.

Dante cringed every time he ran through a dirty puddle on the street. He knew he'd probably look like he came from hell and back by the time he gets to Alice's house. Then again, Alice wasn't one to harshly judge him on appearances.

Easing his mind just a little for the date, Dante ran into the barracks and shook his head a little, shaking off the loose raindrops from his damp hair. He was soaked to the bone and tracking water in through the lobby, but he didn't care. The only thing on his mind was to grab Alice's present and get to her house before he made her wait any longer.

His black boots felt heavy with water with each step up the stairs, but he paid no attention to them.

When he finally got up to his floor, he dashed over to his room and opened up the door. It was dark inside, but he could see the long, pink box on his desk.

Dante walked up to it, but immediately the door behind him slammed shut.

He whipped around, startled.

Initially, he relaxed a little when he saw the silhouette of a woman who he assumed to be Alice. Dante sighed in relief. "Don't scare me like that, idiot." He furrowed his brow in confusion when the girl stepped forward more and her face was revealed in the very dim light of the room. "Mary?" he asked.

"Are you going?...Going to see her?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Alice...you like her, don't you?"

"Even if I do, it's none of your concern."

Mary flashed him a broken smile and shook her head. "When does it ever concern me? I'm your martyr and yet you push me aside like I'm nothing. Alice isn't your martyr anymore and yet, you still go to her."

"What do you want me to do? I like her and-"

"No!"

Mary took a leap forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Dante. "Don't say that! I don't want to hear it!"

"This is crazy, Mary. You're acting weird-" Dante stopped talking when Mary's kiss silenced him. Immediately, he grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her away. "Hey! Don't do that!"

"Why not? We kissed each other before!"

Dante turned away and wiped his lips with the back of his gloved hand. "I...I wasn't myself back then. It was nothing."

"How could you say that?"

"I thought...you were Alice," Dante admitted. "I only kissed you because you reminded me of her. I'm sorry..."

Mary shook her head and held him again. "It's fine!"

"Huh?"

"Even now! You can pretend that I'm Alice! When she's not around, you can use me as a substitute!"

"Mary, I can't."

"You can't, or you won't?"

"I can't-_mm!_" Dante was pushed up against the wall as Mary kissed him feverishly. He struggled against her, but he was surprised at how strong she was.

As soon as she pulled away from air, he shoved her away roughly, causing her to fall to the floor.

He coughed and wiped his mouth with his hand as he stood there leaning against the wall. Dante watched her get up from the floor. Her face was curtained by her long blue hair, making him unable to see her.

Finally after a long moment of silence, Dante stood up straight and shook his head. "I'm sorry Mary, I don't like you and I will never substitute you for Alice."

He grabbed the pink box from his desk and started to walk out of his room, but he stopped when he heard her voice.

"Who said you could leave?"

Her dangerously low voice alerted him, but he was too slow for what happened next.

Dante spun around to face her, but he was met with a kick in the stomach. He grunted as he staggered back, but he was met with another kick to the head. In a daze, he fell to the ground and immediately Mary straddled him across his chest, pinning his arms down with her knees.

With a much different demeanor and personality than before, Mary smirked and giggled. "I like this position, don't you?" she cooed as she traced his lips.

It baffled him on how strong Mary was. Her strength almost felt inhuman.

"Oh, don't scowl, it ruins your handsome face." Mary giggled again as she pulled out a dark purple pill from the pocket of her skirt. "See this? It's the same poison that Krylin put into you the first time, years ago."

Dante kept his mouth closed, fearing that she'll slip it in his mouth the moment he talks.

"You don't need to stop speaking to me. I won't do something so dirty as to slip it in while you're talking."

"Is that why you're here? You're one of Krylin's puppets and she sent you here to get to me?"

Mary gasped and clapped her hands together. "You really are smart! Of course Krylin can't afford to lose someone like you. To be honest, I'm a little jealous that she has you all to yourself." She licked her lips as Dante struggled beneath her.

"If you actually think I'll eat that-"

"I know you will."

"What-?"

"Unless...you don't care about her?"

Dante narrowed his red eyes. "Who...?"

"Alice of course! She and I have gotten really close! She's really naive and innocent, actually believed every word I said about our 'friendship'." Mary giggled darkly and inspected the dark purple pill in her hand. "I wonder what I should do to her if you refuse to take this. Or maybe...Krylin would like to pay her a personal visit. I'm sure Alice would love that."

"Stay away from her!" Dante shouted, trying to get free.

"Oh! No need to get so defensive!" The paladin laughed, amused with how Dante was reacting. "Nothing will happen to her as long as you eat this." Mary leaned down and pressed the pill to Dante's lips.

"Like I should believe the likes of you."

Mary leaned down and gently ran her hand through his thick black hair. "You have my word," she replied with a smirk. "Krylin has no use for her anyways. Only you."

Dante parted his lips just slightly, allowing Mary to slip the pill in a little bit. "I'll do whatever you say then...but don't you or Krylin dare come near her."

"Deal."

The archer bit down on the purple pill and brought it into his mouth. He swallowed and glared up at Mary. "Done. Now get off of me."

"Not so fast." Mary bent down and kissed him. He shook his head, resisting her, but she held him by the jaw and coaxed his mouth open. Her blue eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a smirk when she fished the pill out from underneath his tongue.

Dante coughed as he was forced to eat the pill. Mary held him until she slipped it down his throat.

"Hmm," Mary licked her lips of his saliva, "trying to be cunning, huh? I'm not that dense, Dante."

The archer grit his teeth and glared up at her in hatred. "You got what you wanted, I expect you to uphold your part of the bargain."

"What? Alice? Of course, of course, but first..." Mary reached over to the pink box Dante had in his hand and opened it up. She pulled out the red butterfly necklace and clipped it around her neck. "Maybe I'll have some fun with her first."

Mary smirked when she saw Dante's eyelids starting to flutter closed. "The pill's already starting to work, huh?"

"Don't you dare...hurt...Alice..." he muttered, trying to keep his consciousness.

"I promised didn't I? I won't...at least not physically." Mary giggled as she ran her hand through his wet hair again. "Don't worry, you'll see what I mean, but you'll be powerless to stop it."

* * *

><p>The rain was pouring down hard. It felt cold against her skin.<p>

In the distance, Alice could hear the Orbis clock, ringing in the tenth hour. Has it really been five hours since she sat out here?

The lightning sparked and the clap of thunder soon followed, startling her with its loud sound. A rush of icy cold wind swept through and Alice whimpered as she held herself, shivering.

Alice hugged herself tightly as she slowly looked up and down the streets, looking, searching for Dante.

Her eyes and her body felt heavy with fatigue from the cold. As she stood up from the edge of the fountain, she stumbled a little. Her head felt as if it was spinning.

"You didn't forget...right Dante?" she whispered, slowly making her way towards the barracks.

Trying to keep her hope alive, Alice smiled softly as she walked through the deserted streets of Orbis. There was no way Dante would forget about this date. He was the one that asked her, so he couldn't forget about it.

Alice finally got to the barracks and trudged through the front door. The whole lobby was empty, except for the front receptionist, who was sound asleep at his desk.

She quietly walked past him and upstairs into the rooms.

Her heart pounded inside of her chest. Would she see him in his room? What would she tell him? Did he really forget?

As Alice reached the floor where Dante's room was, she walked down the hall slowly and raised her head. Her whole body froze and she dropped her small bag on the floor.

_You didn't forget...did you, Dante?_

Her hands shook as her blue eyes widened in shock. What she saw in front of her nearly brought her down to her knees.

"Oh?" Mary briefly pulled herself away from the passionate kiss she shared with Dante. She looked at Alice, who was staring at them in disbelief. "Alice, I didn't expect to see you here."

"M-Mary..." Alice barely managed to squeak out. "Why...?" she asked, watching Dante kiss and nuzzle Mary's neck.

"What do you mean?" Mary gently pushed Dante away.

The other woman's cold, expressionless gaze made Alice unable to speak almost. "You said...you said that you didn't like Dante!"

Mary shrugged. "Really? I said that?"

Alice desperately shouted back, "yes! You did! You said it to me! I know you did!"

"So what?"

"Eh...?"

"I'm free to change my mind, aren't I?" Mary smiled as she went forward and wrapped her arms around Dante. She cuddled up against his chest. "It's not like there were any written rules."

"But..." Alice clenched her fists tightly and trembled, "you said-"

"You're incredibly stupid and naive. I can't believe you actually thought I was telling the truth."

The blue haired girl felt anger and frustration bubble up inside of her, but she couldn't even express it. All she could do is stand there pitifully and stutter. "I...It's because you said we were friends...that's why I believed you-"

"So you'll believe anything I say, huh?" Mary giggled. "Then believe me when I say that Dante likes me now."

Alice felt as if someone tore out her heart the moment she saw the two kissing each other again. Her mind went blank in shock. Is this why Dante never showed up? Was he ever going to show up? Why didn't he...?

"Dante...Dante!" Alice ran up to them and took hold of his arm. "Dante..." She felt her eyes stinging when she saw him look down at her briefly, before carelessly turning away from her.

"Dante...our date," Alice said in a cracked tone. "You didn't forget it...right? You were going to come?" The warrior felt tears flowing down her cheeks when Dante didn't say anything to her, not even look at her.

"It looks like he knows who he likes. You can stick around if you want to, but I think we'll need our privacy soon." Mary smirked when she saw Alice bow her head and cry softly.

"I...I said that me...and Dante...we were t-together," Alice stuttered out.

"So? It's not like you two are married. If I like him, I'll take him. I think I did everything fairly, didn't I? Dante likes me, not you."

Alice raised her head to look at Mary, but her eyes stopped just above the paladin's chest. Resting just above her cleavage was the butterfly necklace that Dante said he'd give to her for her birthday. When it's small rubies sparkled, Alice remembered what Dante said earlier about it suiting a more mature girl.

In this case, Alice knew that he meant that it suited Mary, not her.

_"He likes her...not me." _

Alice looked up at Dante one last time and could barely see him through her tears, but she knew that he wasn't looking at her.

Without another word, Alice swiftly turned around and ran away, grabbing her bag off of the ground. She never looked back, not like she really wanted to anyways. Everything that had just happened seemed unreal, but when she ran down the second flight of stairs, the reality of it slowly sank in.

Her once beautifully styled hair was matted down with rain and ruined. Her cold, wet dress clung to her skin like a sheet of ice. Her feet ached from being in the most uncomfortable shoes she had ever worn.

Her first official date and she was stood up. Her birthday, which was supposed to be the best day of her life, turned out to be the worst day of her life.

Alice fell against the wall and slowly slid down as she cried. The makeup she wore was caked and washing off. She knew she probably looked absolutely terrible, but nothing mattered anymore.

Nothing seemed to amount to the pain of the heartbreak she just experienced.

"Alice...?"

The blue haired girl sat up on the steps and saw Lia on the stairs behind her. "U-Uhm, Lia!" She sniffled and tried to wipe away her tears. Secretly, she was glad that the archmage was blind, but she knew that Lia knew she was crying.

"Alice...is something wrong?" Lia asked, cautiously coming down the steps towards the warrior. "You're crying, aren't you?"

"N-No! I'm not, I'm just..." Alice stopped when Lia gently touched her tear soaked cheek.

"You're not helping yourself by lying," the fire mage said in a tone filled with concern. "What's wrong?"

Alice grit her teeth and shook her head. Finally she gave in and buried her face in Lia's shoulder. Without saying anything, all Alice did was cry. She cried hard against Lia's shoulder.

Lia thought it wouldn't be best to question Alice right now. Instead, she gently kissed the top of Alice's head and held her tightly in her arms. She wanted to say something to comfort her, but she knew that these were just one of those times when no words are need.

Instead, Lia and Alice stood there at the stairs, with the only sound being Alice's quiet cries.

* * *

><p>"Hm, that went a lot better than I thought it would." Mary held Dante against her and smirked. "Did you enjoy watching that Dante? I know you're aware of your surroundings, you just can't do anything to stop my commands."<p>

She led him back into his room and directed him to his bed.

Dante laid down upon it and remained motionless, staring off at the wall opposite of his bed. Mary giggled and gently pet him on the bed.

"I know you just want to kill me right now, but you can't, can you? You can hear me, but you can't do anything to shut me up."

Mary smirked when she saw the tips of Dante's fingers twitching. "It's no use trying to move your body. Your body is now under Krylin's control again. You have the pill to thank for that. This time, there's no escaping her no matter how hard you try."

The paladin leaned down and planted a kiss on Dante's lips before leaving. "Sweet dreams, Dante."

Dante could vaguely hear the heels of Mary's shoes clacking against the wooden floor. When the door to his room finally shut, he felt the hold on his body lift, but only a little. The heaviness wasn't there anymore, but his body was still paralyzed.

"A...Alice..." he whispered, trying to move his hands.

He could still hear her desperate voice, calling out for him and her expression when he ignored her. Dante clenched his teeth together and closed his eyes tightly. A small tear escaped his eye and fell to his pillow.

He knew she was incredibly heartbroken and he hated himself for not checking the fountain first.

Dante saw how wet her clothes and hair were. She even looked sickly and he knew that she had been sitting outside for all this time.

She had been sitting outside, waiting for him. Probably anxious for their date, probably planning out what they were going to do for the evening...even her outfit and hair...

He could just imagine her earlier in the day, fixing up her hair, spending hours in front of the mirror, checking her clothes, shoes, hair, makeup, everything.

And all of her spirit and hardwork was crushed in one blow...and he helped with delivering it.

"Damn it..." Dante clenched his fist and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I'm sorry Alice. Damn it, I'm so sorry."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Sorry for not updating in a while now. I just came back from Anime Expo a few days ago and let me just say it was flippin' amazing! I had so much fun and I was still high off of that fun, so I couldn't really sit down and finish writing this chapter. _

_Yes, Alice and Dante just can't get a break, can they? :C  
>BAD MARY -beats her with a flyswatter- <em>

_Anyways, the last month was just hectic with all of those anime cons and HOLY SNAPS 'DAT LEGEND OF KORRA SEASON FINALE! (ahem), so I didn't do it last month, but I'll re-do this system again. _

_Please leave a review. I'll update this again on this coming Sunday if I get LOTSA reviews. If not, then I'll update this in two weeks. _

_I still appreciate your guys' support! Stay fresh, bros!_


	21. Puppet Masters

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** _- _**_21 years old - Corsair__

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 21 - Puppet Masters**

The skies were still cloudy with bits of rain randomly coming down from time to time. The storm last night was terrible, but somehow, Alice slept right through it.

"Are your eyes swollen?" Lia asked the spearman as she tended to the small herbs she kept in pots next to her window.

Sitting on the fire mage's bed, Alice nodded. "A-A little..."

"Here." Lia gently rubbed the leaves of each of her plants until she came to one with little white flowers blooming from it. She clipped off some of its leaves and handed them over to Alice. "Just hold them up to your eyes. They're used to treat swelling from injuries, but I'm sure they'll work for you too."

"Thank you," Alice mumbled, taking them gratefully.

The leaves smelled minty and there was a slight tingling sensation when she held them to her eyes, but it wasn't painful.

"I'm surprised your fever is already gone. I was a bit worried last night when I felt your forehead. You were burning up!" Lia clipped off some more herbal leaves and dropped them into a cup. "Don't tell me you were out in the rain."

Alice didn't answer her. Instead she tugged at the loose sleeves of Lia's shirt that she borrowed.

"Want to tell me what happened?"

Alice dropped the herbal leaves onto her lap and blinked, already feeling the swelling on her eyelids starting to go away. "I was supposed to meet someone yesterday and they never showed up."

The archmage tied up her long black hair into a loose ponytail and went over to the small pot of boiling water next to her herb plants. "A date?" she asked. "You were dressed like it."

The blue haired girl looked over at her white dress that was hung up near the door, still drying from last night's rain. Alice nodded a little and muttered, "it doesn't matter anymore. He doesn't like me anyways."

"Did he say that to you?" Lia asked as she poured hot water into the cup filled with herbal leaves.

"No, but I think he implied it." Alice shook her head, trying to get rid of the memories from last night. She felt tears prickle at her eyes again and she quickly brought the leaves back up to her eyes. It seemed to calm her down just a little.

"Hm," the black haired woman pursed her lips a little and went over to her small desk. She pulled out the drawer and rifled through the various documents, scrolls, and papers that were in there. Finally she brought out several old photos.

Alice curiously looked at them as Lia sat down on the bed next to her.

"I can't see them anymore...but I keep them, just in case." Lia smiled fondly and handed them to Alice.

In the old, black and white photos, Alice could see a beautiful, bright young woman standing next to a rather stoic man.

"My husband was so expressionless I should say." She giggled at the fond memories. "It was very hard for me at first to understand what he was thinking of, especially what he thought of me. I assumed that he was like that because he was an assassin, but that wasn't it."

Alice ran her thumb over the wrinkles on the photo and asked, "then what was it?"

"It was my fault mainly." Lia smiled softly. "I had to understand him and the only way for that to happen was to talk to him. Even if he didn't want to, I talked with him and I came to realize his side. Even when he didn't show it most of the time, I know that he loved me dearly because that's just the type of man he was."

The blue haired girl looked through the other photos and let out a soft giggle when she saw a slightly older Lia with the same man, she was still smiling and he was still stoic, but there was something about him that looked "warmer."

"We never would have gotten married if I never bothered to open him up. The man on the outside is who I liked, but the man on the inside is who I fell in love with."

Alice continued looking through the photos and couldn't help, but recognize the uncanny resemblance that the man had with Dante.

"You two look happy together," she commented as she flipped through the other photos. Alice smiled when she saw Lia laughing with her husband as they seemed to be splashing each other in a knee-deep pond.

"We were," Lia smiled fondly and gently touched the photographs she could no longer see. "We really were."

Alice flipped through until she came to a photo of a small baby boy being held by Lia's husband. "Is this your son?" she asked. "The little boy."

"Yes."

The warrior glanced over at Lia and saw her with a slightly sullen smile. It was then that Alice assumed Lia lost both her son and husband. Although she was curious about them, she decided not to question her about it.

"Alice..." Lia started, "do you like him that much?"

"Y-Yes." Alice hugged herself and sniffled softly. "I like him a lot. We got off to a rough start...back when I was first assigned to be his martyr, but I like him. We grew close and...I never want to lose him."

"Him...is it...Dante?"

From the silence meeting her ears, Lia knew that the man Alice was talking about was her son. She smiled softly and gently placed her hand on Alice's head. "Dante isn't the type of guy to do this."

"Huh?"

"I've had several conversations with him. He is not so irresponsible as he was last night. I think...you should go talk to him."

Alice widened her crystal blue eyes and quickly shook her head. "I-I don't know if I could."

"You care about him, don't you?"

Alice bowed her head and bit down on her bottom lip. "I do...but...I don't know if I can talk to him. What happens if he really meant it?"

"It's better knowing than staying in the dark, right? You're curious as to why...aren't you?"

"I do...I do want to know, but-"

At that moment, there was a soft knock on the door, interrupting them.

"Who is it?" Lia answered, going over to the door. She opened it up and stood there for a brief second before exclaiming, "Dante! What a surprise to see you here."

Alice's breath hitched in her throat and her body froze completely. Her mind reeled when she heard Dante's voice.

"I'm sorry to bother you Lia."

"It's fine."

He sounded so weak and his voice sounded so husky.

"I was wondering...if you've seen Alice."

Alice looked up at Lia and saw her stalling for a bit, thinking up of an excuse, trying to cover for her. Seeing as how things shouldn't continue on like this, Alice let out a trembling sigh and stood up from the bed.

She walked up to the door and mumbled, "I'm here."

Dante stared at her in surprise, never really thinking that Alice would actually be there. He stammered for a bit before Lia intervened.

"I think I'll leave you two alone for a bit."

"No it's fine. I was about to leave anyways." Alice hastily brushed past Lia, thanking her for letting her stay the night. She then avoided Dante's eyes and walked past him as well.

"Ah, uhm...thank you," Dante quickly said to the fire mage before chasing after Alice.

* * *

><p>"Alice! Alice, wait-!" Dante grabbed ahold of Alice's wrist, only to have her shake him off.<p>

"I don't want to hear it."

"Alice-"

"But I know I'll have to." Alice turned slightly to face him. "I know that I want to hear it." She back away and muttered, "let's go somewhere else. Someone might hear us here."

Dante, unable to figure out her current mood, simply nodded and followed her out of the barracks. He didn't speak a word to her as she led him into the dense area of Orbis Park.

Now he knew why she came in here so often. It felt isolated from the hustle and bustle of the main part of Orbis and it was quiet.

As soon as they stopped, Dante opened his mouth to speak, but Alice beat him to the punch.

"If you don't like me, just say it."

"What?"

Alice pursed her lips angrily and spun around to face him. "Why are you talking to me like I'm crazy? Am I wrong? Don't I have every reason to believe that?"

Dante sighed and turned away. He ran his fingers through his hair in distress and for the first time, Alice noticed the dark circles underneath his eyes and how bloodshot his eyes looked. He looked haggard and Alice wondered why.

Finally, Dante closed his eyes and muttered, "you have every right to believe that. I didn't show up for our date. I left you out in the rain all that time..."

Suddenly feeling angry, Alice clenched her fists and whispered, "I waited for so long."

"I know."

"I was looking forward to it."

"I know."

"I spent so much time planning and getting ready...!"

Dante let out a tired, frustrated sigh at himself, and whispered, "damn it, I know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Alice."

The blue haired girl crossed her arms over her chest and felt slightly sorry for putting so much guilt on him, but a small voice in the back of her head told her it was okay. He deserved it.

"I tried to stop myself," he suddenly said.

"What?"

"Mary...she fed me something. I couldn't control myself, but I was aware of everything. I saw...your face when I turned away from you. God, if I could have stopped it, I would have."

Alice narrowed her blue eyes at him and scoffed. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"Krylin's back. Mary fed me the poison and the curse that Athena drove out of me." Dante saw the spearman still unconvinced with what he had to say. "Alice..." he whispered. Finally, he reached out to her, only to be met with retaliation.

"Don't touch me!" Alice screamed. She stepped back defensively and shouted, "you like Mary, so go be with her!"

"What?" Dante asked incredulously.

"You don't need to make up lies to break up with me! If you like her, just go ahead! I'm not stopping you!"

"When have I ever said that!"

"You're implying it! Don't try to lie to me! I saw how you were holding her last night!"

Normally, Dante would have exploded with anger, retaliating at Alice's words, but this time, he knew that he was to blame and that none of it was Alice's fault.

Instead, he stepped forward and whispered, "what can I do to make you believe me?"

"Nothing, I don't even want to-" Alice gasped softly when he brought her in for a tight hug. "What are you doing?" she shouted.

"I won't let go."

"What?"

Dante didn't say anything, he simply held on.

Alice on the other hand, began kicking and trying to escape from him. "Let go me! You stupid, selfish, bastard!" She hit him on the chest with her small fists, but he didn't let go. She kicked him in the legs and he still didn't let go.

"You didn't even show up last night! I waited so long for you and then I found you with Mary!" Alice managed to push him away and immediately she slapped him hard across the face. Tears fell down her cheeks as she hit him across the face again. "Stupid!" Alice shouted as Dante pulled her in for a tight hug, never letting her go despite her attacks on him.

"I hate you!" she cried out, her fists losing power. "I hate you!"

"And I love you," Dante whispered, burying his face into the side of her face. "I'm not going to let you go. I can't leave you alone like this."

"Then how much more are you going to hurt me?" Alice asked in a broken whisper.

"I don't know. Probably a lot more times."

"Then why-?"

"But I want to be the one to fix them and make it better." Dante nuzzled her neck and closed his eyes. "But I will never hurt you as much as I did last night."

"But-"

"I told you that it wasn't me. It wasn't me and you're just going to have to trust me on that. Alice...I may call you names, tease you, and insult you, but I would _never _hurt you that much on purpose. If I didn't like you anymore, I would say so."

Alice trembled as she let silent tears fall from her eyes and let them roll down the dark blue leather of Dante's shirt. "...Really?" she whispered, holding onto him.

"Really."

"Then...you like me still?"

"I do."

Momentarily, Alice felt a sense of relief rush through her. However, she still found a part of herself in doubt.

"I don't believe you...fully, at least," she mumbled against his shoulder.

"What?"

"That you love me."

"I do-"

"Then prove it to me."

Alice pulled away and stared up at Dante's eyes directly. Her gaze was fixed and she had a soft blush on her cheeks as she reiterated, "prove that you love me."

"I said it, what more do you need?"

The warrior blushed a little bit more and glared up at him. "You kissed Mary last night. Kiss me like how you kissed her."

Dante wanted to win her back, so he complied to her demands and leaned down to capture her lips in a quick kiss. However, before he could pull away, Alice gently cupped his face and repeated in a low whisper, "kiss me like how you kissed her."

Seeing as how she was serious, Dante wrapped his arms around her small waist and kissed her fully. He coaxed her mouth open with his tongue and let her play with his tongue for the duration of the kiss.

They pulled away and Dante could see that Alice had a lovely red blush on her cheeks. She wiped away at the excess saliva on her lips. It was the first time they've actually kissed like that.

"Did you want more?" he asked softly, seeing as how she didn't look satisfied.

Alice seemed to hesitate at first, but then she nodded confidently. "You still haven't proven anything to me," she grumbled.

Dante saw the flicker of want in her clear blue eyes and he let out a low sigh. "Alice-"

"I mean it."

He could feel her softly trembling hands unbuckling the brown leather chest guard on him. Dante could feel his own heart hammering away inside of him as he heard it drop to the wet grassy ground. "Do you realize what you're asking of me right now?" he whispered huskily into her ear as he gently nuzzled her cheek.

Alice shivered at his lustful voice. She placed her pale hand on his chest and gently started to unzip his dark blue shirt. "I-I know." She managed to get his shirt fully open and she slid the article of clothing off of his shoulders. His skin felt cold to the touch and his clothes still had some dampness to them.

Dante's breathing quickened as he felt her curious hands explore his body. He took her by the arms and stumbled back until he met a tree. "Alice," he breathed out, gently running his hands through her soft blue hair.

His red eyes trailed down to her and he saw her fingertips lightly flit over the scar on his abdomen.

"I should have been more aware," Alice whispered. "Maybe then...none of this would have happened."

Dante cupped her cheek and lovingly ran his thumb over her smooth skin. "It couldn't have been helped." He raised her face so that he could look into her eyes. Dante smiled just a little, not a joyful smile or a sullen smile, just a smile. "You did all that you could. That's more than enough."

He bent down and brought her in for another kiss. He pulled away then hungrily dove back down.

Alice whimpered softly from the force of his kiss. Her stomach fluttered nervously as she felt his hands roam up and down her arms.

"Dante," Alice said shyly.

"Shh." Dante let his hand fall to her waist and slowly slip underneath her white shirt. He felt her softly trembling against him and he knew that she was scared, despite how bold she sounded earlier.

As soon as Alice felt his calloused fingertips brush against her bare stomach, she let out a scared cry and held onto him tightly.

"You're scared," Dante whispered, closing his eyes and burying his face into her waved hair.

"N-No...I'm not."

"You are," he whispered. Dante pulled away from her and brushed away some of her hair from her big blue eyes. "I can wait."

"But-" Alice held a hand over her chest and muttered, "you did it yesterday with Mary, didn't you?"

Dante stared at her for a while, before shaking his head. He let out a soft, amused chuckle and lifted her head to look at her face. "Idiot...even if I did, I only want to do it with you. And if you really want to know, I didn't do anything with her after you left. I was out the whole night looking for you."

Deep inside, Alice felt relief and comfort, knowing that he had went out of his way to find her. All she did was smile modestly and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

Dante saw this and knew that she was pleased with hearing that. He laughed softly and gently pet the top of her head. "We can continue this when you're ready."

"Eh?"

"I still love you, but you're not ready."

Before Alice could say anything else, Dante kissed her softly on the lips and ran his thumb over them.

"Maybe someday we could." The black haired man took Alice's slender hand and brought it up to his lips.

Alice blushed heavily when she felt the slightest puff of air blew out from his mouth and meet her skin. Her blush intensified as Dante gently kissed her smooth knuckles. "Stupid," she mumbled, turning away. "Who are you to tell me whether I'm ready or not?"

"Well, are you?" he asked of her, lightly brushing his lips over her hand.

"I don't...know," Alice admitted. She tightly clutched at his dark blue shirt. "But...I still want you," she whispered out, sounding embarrassed.

"You do?" asked Dante, burying his face into her sweet smelling hair. He felt the need to take her, but he knew that he had to wait for her to come to him.

She was blushing brightly, but she continued. Alice leaned her head against his bare chest and closed her eyes. "I want you for myself. Am I being selfish?"

Dante smiled softly and placed his arm around her shoulders, bringing her in close. "Then I guess I'm just as selfish. I don't want anyone else to take you either, but..." He closed his eyes and gently pulled her away from him.

Confused with his actions, Alice stared at his wide-eyed as he began to speak.

"We shouldn't."

"Eh? Shouldn't what?"

"This whole thing. You know, dating."

At first, Alice didn't understand what he was saying, much less think that he was being serious. "But...why?" she asked. "I thought you liked me."

"I do, but now's just not the time. Athena's planning to retake Victoria Island in a few weeks and I think we'll distract each other."

"O-Oh..."

Dante saw the look of realization and disappointment slowly making its way across her face and he suddenly wished he could take it all back, but he knew this was for the best. "We didn't really think things through this time."

"What do you mean?"

He chuckled softly and pulled his shirt back on over his shoulders and zipped up the front. As he bent down to pick up his fallen chest guard, he replied, "you know that Athena discourages relationships between platoon leaders and martyrs."

"But, we're not anymore!"

"You are to me. I still think of you as my martyr and that's why we should end this."

Alice didn't know what to say or how to feel. Should she be happy that Dante never thought of "replacing" her as his martyr? Or should she be sad that their relationship was now over?

"There's just too much going on right now," Dante said with a soft sigh. He stepped forward and gently ran his fingers through her soft blue hair. His red eyes reflected a look of sadness as he looked down at her. "It wouldn't be good for the both of us-"

"Stop saying that!" Alice asserted. She looked up at him with a determined gaze. "Why is it bad for us?"

"Isn't it obvious? You should understand that-"

"No, I don't! I don't understand!"

"Alice-"

"Make me understand."

Dante exhaled softly through his nose and closed his eyes. "Think about it. Mary would have never exploited us if we weren't together. She used us because of our weakness for each other. What's to say this won't happen again in the future?"

Alice knew that what he was saying was completely true. Not only was it Mary, but Krylin had also exploited their relationship in the past. They really were each other's weakness. Still, Alice didn't want things to end like this, it just didn't feel right.

"Maybe...after everything's over?" Dante offered up, smiling sadly down at her as he tucked a lock of blue hair behind her ear. He leaned down and gently kissed her head. "I'm sorry, Alice."

She quickly wiped away loose tears from her eyes and nodded. Even though she didn't want their relationship to end, she was starting to understand what Dante was talking about. It wouldn't be good for either of them considering the circumstances.

Alice held his hand to her face and giggled softly. "I understand. We rushed it, didn't we?"

"You could say that," Dante said, gently running his thumb over her soft cheekbones. He could feel the moisture from her tears still on her cheeks and he knew that Alice didn't want this either.

He let out a sharp sigh and quickly brought her in for a hug.

Even though it was quick and caught her off-guard, Alice didn't say anything. Instead she hugged him tightly back; it was painful. Alice slowly began to close her eyes, but reopened them when she heard what Dante whispered to her.

"You'll always be my martyr, no matter what."

Alice buried her face into his broad shoulder and tightened her hold on him, but it was then that Dante pulled away. She looked up at him, wanting another hug, a kiss, a gentle brush of her hair, anything else, but there was nothing. She only saw him flash a soft, broken smile before turning around to leave.

It didn't occur to Alice that he was leaving at first. So, for a while, she did nothing except stand there numbly and frozen to the spot.

Finally, she moved her feet and reached out towards him. "Dante!" she called out, but no one responded.

Alice blinked and realized that Dante was long gone. She looked all around her and saw that she was all alone.

* * *

><p>"I hope you don't mind us being your escorts until we reach Queen Nackt's palace."<p>

"Oh, not at all!" Mytsu giggled, gently pulling up her scarf so that it covered more of her face. Secretly, she wondered why she was being "forced" to walk all the way to the palace. She was princess for goddess' sake!

"Uhm, excuse me. Mister Hermes?"

The brown haired ice mage smiled warmly down at her and asked, "you can just call me Froid."

She simply laughed softly, holding her hand up to her mouth. "Of course, but I have to ask...why are we walking?" Mytsu tried her best to hide her growing discomfort with being on her feet. Especially when it was this chilly.

"It's best to be discreet. We're out in the open and I don't think it would be good if we draw attention to ourselves, especially when we have to protect you and since I have two students from the academy with me."

Meg and Sean trailed behind Froid and the princess, watching them exchange words.

"She looks like a doll, right?" Meg excitedly whispered to Sean. "This is the first time I've ever met a princess!"

Despite her excitement, Sean remained unresponsive. The blond cleric seemed to take notice of this and awkwardly cleared her throat. Meg dropped her gaze so that she was staring down at the soft, snow covered ground.

"U-Uhm...Sean..."

"Huh?"

"That kiss...from before-"

"Oh that," Sean laughed a little and played with the end of his ponytail. "It was nothing. Just forget about it."

"But you're not forgetting it, are you?"

Sean looked away, avoiding Meg's wide blue eyes.

The cleric clasped her hands in front of her. She hated how tense their relationship had gotten; all because of his confession, the kiss, and ultimately her indecisiveness. _Did_ she like him as a friend or something more?

Suddenly, Froid stopped walking and held out his arm, gently stopping Mytsu.

"Eh? What's wrong, Mister Hermes?" Meg asked curiously.

He quickly shushed them and reached back for his blue elemental staff. As the staff slid out of its hold, Froid bent his knees slightly and narrowed his blue eyes straight ahead.

"Sean, Meg...can I trust you to keep the princess safe?"

"H-Huh? What's going on? Why-?" Before Sean could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a high pitched whistling sound.

"Sean! Watch out!" Meg stepped in front of him and pushed him back behind her. "Mana Guard!" she shouted, producing a clear film of mana in front of her.

The blue haired boy flinched when he saw a steel tipped arrow being deflected. Frightened, Sean stepped back a little, only to be stopped by Froid.

"You two, please take the princess and run away. Run towards El Nath, you will meet Xin there."

"Then what?" Meg asked quickly. "And what about you?"

Froid smiled. "I'll be perfectly fine, but make sure you run and don't stop. Tell Xin that there's enemies near El Nath."

Sean heard more whistling sounds piercing the air, signaling that there were more arrows being shot at them.

With quick reflexes, Froid brought up his staff and create a large barrier that completely surrounded all of them. Dozens of arrows were deflected in an instant.

"Please go now!" he shouted, turning back to face the enemy. He held his staff and hand out in front of him and created a large orb of lightning energy.

"But-!"

"Come on, Sean!" Meg exclaimed, quickly ushering Mytsu into their protection.

However, before they could leave they were stopped by two arrows stabbing into the ground right in front of them.

"You're not going anywhere."

Sean and Meg drew back in fear as they saw a tall man leap down from the high evergreen trees. He landed light and quick on his feet, like a cat, on the soft white snow.

He raised his head and immediately Sean flinched when he saw the man's striking hazel eyes glaring at them from underneath his fiery red hair. There was a clear intent to kill in his eyes as he fixated his gaze upon them.

Just as the red haired marksman took one step towards them, a burst of white and blue lighting shot past Sean and Meg. The lighting seemed to strike the mysterious man in a direct hit as it created a loud and powerful explosion.

Sean turned around to face Froid, who quickly shouted, "make a run for it! I can hold him off! Make sure the princess is safe!"

Meg nodded and turned to leave, but before she could, she was stopped by the red haired man again. He stood directly in front of her, blocking her way.

"Didn't I say you won't be leaving?" he said in a dangerous tone.

The cleric whimpered in fear, but before the marksman could do any damage to her, Froid held out his hands and shouted, "Glacier Chain!"

A brilliantly lit blue shot of ice wrapped around the marksman and pulled him away from Meg and towards Froid.

"Mister Hermes!" Meg shouted in panic.

"Go!" he ordered. "I can deal with him!"

They hesitated, but Sean and Meg did what they were told.

Froid sighed a little in relief when he saw them run away, but he faltered when he felt a presence behind him.

"Can you deal with the two of us?" a female voice asked him.

The archmage turned just to see a flash of red hair and the swing of a heavy Red Arund. He released the spell he had on the marksman and teleported away before the bow could strike his head.

He reappeared a few feet away from them, where he got a good look at the two of them.

Both of them had dark red hair and hazel eyes that seemed to look directly into your soul. Other than that, they had other resemblances and that was what tipped Froid off on who they are.

"So...you two are Kaito and Saya Shinrai?"

"Who wants to know?" Saya snapped back, gently dusting off the remaining ice from her older brother, Kaito's sleeve.

Froid knew them all too well. He had reports of several Aegis soldiers in his platoon that ran into a brother and sister bowmen duo, both were greatly skilled and both never hesitate to kill. He knew that the two people standing before him had to be those two he had read the reports on.

"You two are quite the hot topic in my platoon. It's certainly a pleasure meeting such talented individuals, but I'm afraid that I can't let you leave here alive."

The ice mage swung down his blue elemental staff and planted it into the ground. He held out his arms and the air around him seemed to swirl violently. He narrowed his blue eyes and his glasses caught the dim sunlight as he lowered his head to face them. "I can't forgive anyone that tries to bring harm to my platoon."

Up in the sky, violent storms of ice crystals swirled together like a cyclone. The winds around the two bowmen picked up and they both looked up to stare at the angry sky.

Without warning, shards of extremely sharp crystals of ice rained down upon the two siblings.

A flurry of snow flew up into the air, creating a light cover when the crystals impacted the ground. Froid picked up his staff and the skies returned back to normal. He knew that no one could ever survive that attack...or so he thought.

"Woooow..." he heard Saya say from behind him.

Froid whipped around defensively and saw the both of them unscathed in the tree branches above him. He was shocked to see that they had both dodged the violent attack. It was the first time that anyone had ever survived his Blizzard spell.

"You're amazing...being able to cast such a powerful spell like that without an incantation," the red haired girl commented, languidly swinging her legs back and forth as she sat there on the tree branch. "But then again...you're a platoon leader so, that's expected, right Kaito?"

Her brother, who stood beside her, didn't respond.

"Should we kill him?" she asked.

"Krylin wanted us to focus on the princess," Kaito gently reminded his sister.

"The princess went with those two kids, right?" asked Saya, kicking her legs back and forth while she played with one of her long pigtails.

"Mm."

Saya sighed and stood up. "I'm sorry, but we have other business to attend to. Maybe you'll get your revenge some other day, mister!"

"I'm not letting you escape!"

"Huh?"

A glowing blue circle formed in front of Froid and two ice chains shot out from it. They wrapped tightly around the siblings and Froid held them there in his grasp.

"Hey...Kaito? He's not letting us leave," Saya commented, staring down at the archmage.

"It would seem that way," replied Kaito.

Froid pulled back his arm, pulling on the chain. "As I suspected...you two work for Krylin."

"Of course. It's nothing personal. Kaito and I don't hate you Aegis members and it's not like we really like Krylin either."

"Then why?"

"Why, huh?" Saya cocked her head to the side in thought and wondered out loud. "We don't really know either, right Kaito?" She giggled as she looked over at her older brother. "I guess it's just because Krylin lets us kill whoever we want and right now...we really want to kill you."

Suddenly feeling threatened, Froid gave a quick pull on the chains wanting to put an end to this before it escalated, but he was too late.

Out of nowhere, their two summoned bird spirits, Frostprey and Phoenix, flew towards him in an aggressive attack.

Froid released his spell in an attempt to not get hit by the two birds, but that proved to be a fatal mistake. The two deadly siblings were freed and free to attack him.

He was immediately surrounded in a shower of arrows. Teleporting proved to help him by only a little. As he dodged their violent attacks, Froid began to realize why they were such an amazing duo.

Saya showered him in arrows shot out at an amazing speed and Kaito provided the precise, strong blasts of powerful shots that made it impossible for him to find cover behind anything. It didn't even matter if they were both ranged attackers. They covered each other's weaknesses and played off each other's strengths in perfect harmony.

"Mana Guard!" Froid shouted, hoping that it would buy him some time to conjure up a spell.

While Saya's attacks bounced right off, Kaito's piercing arrow met the barrier and flew straight through without any resistance.

Froid widened his blue eyes and tried to create another barrier that could block the deadly shot, but it was useless. The arrow flew straight past his second barrier as well and struck him directly in the shoulder.

He stumbled back in pain and dropped down to his knees.

Both Saya and Kaito stopped their attacks when Froid fell to the ground, face first.

"Aw, did we overdo it?" Saya asked, jumping down from the tree. She dusted off her clean Red Mantle clothes and helped dust off Kaito's identical clothes. As they approached the ice mage, Saya pouted a little and gently nudged Froid's hand with her red boots. "I wanted to play with him for a while. He seemed like he could be a lot of fun compared to those other guys we fought."

"Don't forget our mission Saya," Kaito quietly reminded. "Krylin wanted Princess Mytsu dead."

"I know, I know." She waved her hand and tossed her long red pigtail over her shoulder. "Then let's get going towards El Nath. I'm sure they're there by now."

"You're not escaping me, didn't I say that?"

"Huh?"

Before either bowmen could react, two icy cold chains shot out from the ground and wrapped themselves around their arms and legs.

Froid got up to his knees, keeping one hand planted firmly on the ground. He smirked when he saw their surprised reaction. "Don't take me so lightly. You said it yourself. I am a platoon leader...it's going to take more than a little arrow to kill me." He wrapped his hand around the thick arrow embedded in his shoulder and ripped it out. His crimson red blood dyed the snow beneath him as he threw the arrow down.

"You can't possibly keep us here with the same old tactics as last time!"

"Try me."

The ice mage heard their two summoned birds behind him, charging in to attack.

He quickly raised his staff and pointed it behind him. A shot of lighting went out and struck Kaito's Frostprey and in the next consecutive shot, Froid shot out a freezing ice spell towards Saya's Phoenix.

The two birds quickly fell to the earth, screeching in pain.

"Looks like you two should work on building a spirit link with your summons. They're rather weak," Froid stated, tightening the ice chains around them. "Looks like I've overestimated you two."

Saya grit her teeth in frustration. "Shut up, you old man! Like we need our summons! We have each other!"

"Really now?"

He tightened the chain holding Kaito and the man showed some discomfort at the constriction, but he didn't scream or let out any sort of noise. When the chains tightened even more, Saya shouted, "you don't have the guts to kill either of us! At least not in this way!"

"Aren't I doing that right now?" Froid asked.

The chains around Kaito wrapped around his neck and began to squeeze.

"You can't!" Saya exclaimed. "You don't-!"

She saw that Froid's intentions were very real when she saw that the chains were digging in his neck, drawing a large amount of blood. "Stop! You're hurting him!" she cried.

However, before the ice mage could finish the job the unexpected happened right before him.

The two of them went limp in his chains and then burst into a shower of hay. Froid's eyes went wide with shock as he staggered, taken aback by the whole experience. "Im...possible..." he breathed out.

He was fighting their puppets this whole time.

* * *

><p>"Hmm...it looks like our puppets just ran out of time," Saya said, twirling a lock of her red hair around her finger. "Too bad."<p>

"It's more than enough. We're nearly done with our mission anyway," Kaito muttered, stepping forward.

"Get away!" Mytsu screamed, holding her arms up in front of her. She panicked and looked towards Meg and Sean for help, but it was too late for them. They were already defeated and they both were laying in the snow, unconscious. "M-My father will hear about this! He'll...He'll never let you two live!"

"How many times have we heard that, big brother?" the red haired girl asked, giggling in amusement. "Many times, he says." She stepped forward and pulled out a knife. "If you stop struggling, we'll make it so that it's painless."

Mytsu cried in terror as she felt the knife being pressed onto her neck. "He-Help me...!"

"No one's coming for you," Saya said in a teasing tone. "The only ones that were protecting you were those two weak kids and they're gone. By the time they wake up, they'll see your corpse."

"N-No-!"

Suddenly, Saya and Kaito froze in place. They struggled to move, but found they couldn't move a muscle.

"What's going on, Kaito?" Saya asked quickly, trying to move the knife closer to Mytsu's pale neck. "Why can't we move?"

"We're...being pulled." Kaito looked down at his feet and saw that they were slowly sliding sideways.

Mytsu lowered her arms hesitantly and indeed saw them frozen and being pulled by an invisible force. She swallowed harshly and turned her head to the side to see who it was that had saved her.

The man had his hand held out, with a blue aura engulfing it. It was as if he were a magnet and the two bowmen were made out of metal.

He took out his Doombringer with his other hand and swung it down.

"So...this must be that "Xin" the ice mage was talking about earlier," Kaito commented, barely seeing the warrior through his peripheral vision.

"Not bad," Saya muttered.

Xin smirked a little and brought up his sword to land a strike on the paralyzed archers.

"Thanks," he said shortly before bringing down his Doombringer on them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**_ Yes, moar new characters~ _

_Anyways, I'm very sorry to keep you guys waiting for this chapter! I was preoccupied with some other things so, no chance to work on Aegis. I was really happy with all of the reviews, so thank you lots! As an apology, I'll post up the next chapter by this Wednesday. (Hopefully that won't deter you guys from reviewing this chapter ~ ) _

_And look how FF made it so much easier for you to review! It's just like RIGHT THERE VVV  
>(So review plox?) <em>

_Thanks for all of the support, bros!_


	22. Trust Me

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 19 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 22 - Trust Me**

_"The more you protect him, the more it's apparent that he is what I'm looking for." _

_Lia backed away, protectively holding her son in her arms. "Don't you dare!" _

_"Your husband...he fought back against me. I can't have my amplifier rebelling against me, now can I? Tell me, did he ever mention to you the power that the Kyudo line has?" Xeros asked, stepping forward with his Agares Bloody spear in his hands. _

_Lia eyed it warily as she stepped back, holding up her Evil Wings staff defensively. _

_"Ah, I assume he didn't!" the purple haired spearman said with a chuckle. "What a shame! And here I thought that he would be protective of his wife and son!" _

_"You killed him! You killed him while he was trying to protect Dante!" _

_Xeros threw back his head and laughed. "Do you really believe that? I think it's obvious that he let himself get killed. Just so that he wouldn't have to become my amplifier. He just wanted his son to take his place. Oh...but don't worry, if you hand over your son quietly, I'll leave you and Henesys alone." _

_"Liar." _

_"Hm?" _

_"Liar!" Lia swung her staff and shot out three fire balls at the dark warrior. Her red eyes were brimming with tears as she shot out more fire demons towards Xeros, who easily blocked all of her attacks with a simple swing of his spear. "Alec would never abandon me. More importantly, he would never abandon Dante!" _

_"Do you really think so?" _

_Seeing as how her attacks weren't working, Lia tightly held Dante in her arms and she knew that she needed to get away from him. _

_She held out her staff and a glowing green book appeared before her. "Poison Mist!" she shouted and at that moment, the green book exploded into a toxic cloud of poison. _

_Lia quickly covered her son's small nose with the cloth that he was wrapped in as she fled the scene. _

* * *

><p>The tattered photos felt so delicate in her hands. Lia gently stroked the faded ink and the small wrinkles on the surface. She couldn't see them, but she still kept them for some reason. They gave her just that last connection to her past life.<p>

_Knock. Knock._

The knocking at the door startled her slightly. Lia quickly got up to her feet, went over to the desk, and shoved the photos into the drawer, unaware that one had fluttered loose and had fallen to the floor.

"Come in," she called out.

As soon as Dante stepped in, Lia recognized him by his body heat and footsteps.

"Oh, Dante!" she exclaimed, rushing over to him. "Did everything go well with Alice?"

Dante smiled a little and shook his head. "Somewhat."

"Somewhat? If you don't mind me asking..."

"I decided to put some distance between us. It's for the best, especially with the battle coming up. We'll be distracting each other."

"I see."

Dante looked away for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He finally faced Lia and said, "I know that I must be asking for too much, but could I ask you for a favor?"

"Hm?"

The archer leaned his hand up against the wooden door frame and whispered, "could you please stay by Alice's side?"

Lia cocked her eyebrow up suspiciously, wondering what he was trying to say. "Of course I can, but why all this all of a sudden?" She heard Dante let out a soft, sullen sigh before answering.

"I don't think I could be the one to help fix Alice this time."

"Well," Lia softly laughed as she went into her room. Gently, she motioned for Dante to join her and the archer followed without much resistance.

"It sounds like you really like her," the fire mage remarked, looking over her various herbs growing in small pots.

Dante felt his cheeks turn a slight pink. "I do-" His speech faltered when he saw Lia reach out to him and gently cup his cheek.

Lia giggled and went back to tending to her plants. "I see you're blushing. Both of you are very innocent with your feelings for each other."

He blushed even harder, embarrassed that Lia pointed out his blush.

"You should help her."

"Huh?"

"When the invasion is over, you should make amends with her. I'm sure she'd want you to fix her rather than me." Lia turned around and smiled warmly. "A respectable man would make the woman he loves happy in the end, no matter what. I'm sure Alice would want a respectable man by her side. Right, Dante?"

What Lia said made sense, but Dante still had his lingering doubts. "I just don't want Alice hurt because of me."

"You'll just need to trust her on that."

"What do you mean?"

"She's survived this far, hasn't she? You must give Alice more credit than what you're giving her. Inside of her is a beautiful, resilient flower just waiting to bloom." Lia reached out and gently pinched at one of the leaves of her herbs. She smiled fondly down at it and said, "she needs respect and trust from you so she can grow. So don't worry about her. She knows that being with you will bring pain, but Alice trusts you and now it's time for you to trust her. Hm?"

Dante looked down at the floorboards in thought. He had believed that all this time he was doing all the things that were best for Alice, but once again he had been proven wrong. He needed to trust her, not protect her.

"I understand," he whispered. Dante smiled at Lia. "Thank you for telling me all this." He then joked lightheartedly, "maybe I should come to you for advice more often."

Lia laughed. "I wouldn't mind it at all."

"Well...I should probably get going. Thanks again-" Dante stopped when he heard something light crunch underneath his foot. Curiously, he looked down and saw an old photograph sticking out from underneath his boot heel.

He bent down to pick it up and his red eyes immediately widened in shock.

"Is something wrong?" Lia asked, tilting her head slightly.

"N-No, nothing at all. I just nearly fell over," Dante said with a slight laugh. He quickly excused himself from her room and walked down the hallway. When he was a good distance away from Lia's room, he stopped and looked down at the old photograph in his hand.

Dante felt his mouth drying up as he muttered softly, "impossible...why is this...?" His red eyes stared at the two people in the photo, a man and a woman. The man looked amazingly similar to him and the woman looked eerily familiar.

"It can't be..." he whispered, his hand trembling as he moved to cover the woman's eyes with his finger. It was Lia. His mind raced as he slowly flipped over the photograph. Was Lia...his...

The black haired man felt his breath hitch in his throat when he saw the two names that were scribbled on the aged photo.

_Alec & Cecelia_

Dante fit the pieces together. The names, the resemblance of the man in the photo to himself, the resemblance the woman in the photo had to Lia, the way he felt so at ease around Lia even though he barely knew her, the way she treated him with sudden gestures of care and kindness..._  
><em>

He suddenly felt overwhelmed with shock with the conclusion he came to and he staggered a bit on his feet. Dante held his hand over his mouth as he leaned back against the wall.

"My parents...my mother..."

He was talking to her casually just a while ago...

"Lia...is my mother...?"

* * *

><p>"Hey, Kaito...I wonder if we'll win in this game of hide and seek?" Saya asked her brother as they both calmly walked through the forest of evergreens.<p>

Xin grit his teeth as he hid behind a tree.

"Why aren't we moving? They'll find us!" Mytsu exclaimed. She gasped a little when Xin held her tightly against him while holding his hand over her mouth.

"I only want what's best for you, Princess. Please trust me and stay close. I promise that I'll keep you safe and alive," the warrior whispered, earning a quick nod from the blonde.

"But," Mytsu moved his hand slightly so she could speak. "What about Sean and Meg?"

"They won't kill them. I'm sure Froid will find them when he gets here. These two only want you dead."

"But-!_ AHH_!" Mytsu cried out in surprise when the tree trunk just above their heads exploded and shattered into a million pieces.

"Follow me!" Xin exclaimed, grabbing the princess' thin wrist. He led her deeper into the forest, dodging the occasionally arrow that made it near them. When Mytsu began to fall behind, Xin stopped and quickly apologized before scooping up the small girl in his arms.

The blond princess squeezed her eyes tightly shut and buried her face into his shoulder as he ran through the forest.

"Please stay here," Xin told her, stopping near a small crevice.

Genuinely afraid for her life, Mytsu quickly shook her head. "Th-They'll find me! And then they'll-!"

"Then I'll leave you with a promise, Princess. I will come back for you and I'll get you to Nackt's palace safely. So, please don't come out and stay in there."

Mytsu pursed her pink lips together and finally decided to follow Xin's instructions. She slipped into the crevice and sat there in the darkness, curled up into a ball. Before Xin could leave, she shouted out, "if you don't come back, I'll make sure my father hears about this!"

Xin chuckled and pulled out his Doombringer. "Yes, Princess." Without another word, Xin rushed off back into the evergreen forest.

However, he frankly wasn't sure at this point if he could make it back. These two archers were amazingly skilled. It surprised him back when he casted a magnet pull spell on them and they managed to break out of it just before he could land a strike.

They weren't supposed to be taken lightly.

"Oh? It's just you?"

Xin whipped around and saw the red haired girl behind him. He remembered that the boy she was with called her Saya.

She pouted a little, kicking the snow with her red boots. "Where's the princess?"

"Think I'd tell you that freely?" Xin asked, narrowing his blue eyes at the bowmaster. He widened his stance and tightly gripped his Doombringer. "I'll give you a chance to run away while you still can."

"Is that a warning?" Saya asked, giggling. "Hey Kaito! I think this guy might be a better challenge than the platoon leader!"

"Platoon leader?" asked Xin, perplexed for a while before realizing they must be talking about Froid.

"He got so easily fooled by our puppets!" Saya laughed, clearly amused with the whole thing. "You'd think that a platoon leader would take notice of that!"

Xin turned a little when he heard the man, Kaito, come up behind him.

"Don't spend too much time gloating, Saya," Kaito gently reminded her. "We still need to find the princess."

Saya crossed her arms over her chest and let out a sigh. "Fine, fine." She reached around behind her and released her Red Arund from its hold. A smirk drew itself across her face as she asked, "we'll ask one more time. Where's the princess?"

Without warning, Xin rushed forth towards the red haired girl and their weapons clashed for a brief second before the girl lept back to avoid him. Xin's Doombringer crashed into the snowy ground where she once stood, creating a small crater.

"So that's your answer..."

Xin turned around and swung his sword to attack Kaito. His sword sliced cleanly through the man, but it was only a puppet. Pieces of hay rained down on him as the real Kaito lept down from the tree branches above.

Just barely, Xin raised up his Doombringer to block the overhead attack. He heard the heavy crossbow arrow bounce off the flat side of his sword and felt the weight of the man pushing down on him briefly.

The marksman kicked off from Xin's sword and did an agile flip backwards before landing on his feet.

"You're quite fast for a warrior, aren't you?" Saya exclaimed, sounding as if she was absolutely excited with what she had discovered.

Xin set his jaw and rushed forth to attack again. He skillfully swung the heavy black and white broadsword high over his head and began his aggressive attack against the two archers. However, all he struck were their sturdy weapons.

Seeing as how he was only wasting his energy, Xin gave one last swing of the massive sword and slid back on the slick ground from the force of the swing. He panted as he stared at them, anticipating their next move.

Saya smiled at him and then at her older brother. "Kaito? I think he wants us to start attacking now."

Kaito remained silent, but Saya reacted as if she had received a verbal response from him. She giggled and brought up her bow.

"You should have just told us where the princess is."

Before Xin could react to dodge their attacks, the stream of arrows began to rain down on him. Xin brought up his Doombringer and used it as a shield and it worked- to some extent.

He winced when several sharp arrows scraped past his bare arm that wasn't covered in armor. Some arrows met his other arm, which was luckily covered in steel armor.

The arrow stream eventually stopped, but when Xin moved his sword to the side to peek out, he widened his eyes and quickly rolled off to the side in order to dodge the incoming attack. Immediately, a dart-like arrow flew past him, barely missing him, and shot through the tree behind him.

Xin watched as the large evergreen swayed and then fall with a thundering crash to the ground. He turned his attention back to the two bowmen, especially keeping his attention on Kaito.

The marksman had the power to land a deadly blow in one hit and Xin wasn't sure if his Doombringer could withstand a blow from him. He had to be exceptionally careful around him.

He stood up onto his feet and planted the tip of his sword into the soft ground. A blue aura surrounded his body as several runes circled the ground around him. They produced a circular pattern beneath his feet and spun slowly.

"Oh? Are you finally being serious?" Saya asked him, grinning.

Xin stood his ground as the circular pattern disappeared. He brought back his Doombringer and kicked off from the ground, rushing towards them in a blink of an eye.

The ends of his long black vest fluttered near his knees as his sword plunged into a tree, barely missing them as they jumped out of the way. Xin quickly pulled out the sword and jumped up towards Kaito.

He swung the heavy Doombringer and brought it down upon the marksman, who blocked the attack with his Fire Raven crossbow. However, Kaito was no match for Xin's strength as one combo symbol appeared on the warrior's right hand.

Still airborne, Xin hit the marksman two more times, all of them landing on the Fire Raven before the last strike broke the weapon and sent Kaito hurtling down to the ground.

"Kaito!" Xin could hear his little sister exclaimed from behind them.

Kaito crashed into the ground, spewing blood from his mouth from the incredible impact. By now, Xin's combo was partially done with three more symbols appearing on his left hand, and both of his legs.

"You bastard!" Saya shouted, running up to Xin.

With his senses and strength heightened with the combo, Xin whipped around and did an underhanded swing of his Doombringer to meet Saya's bow swing.

The two weapons met briefly in a screeching clash before Saya cried out in pain when the impact proved to be too much for her. She backed away just as the last combo symbol appeared on Xin's forehead.

Saya held her injured arm in pain as she staggered on her feet.

"Your bones are probably shattered. It would be wise for you two to retreat," Xin said, turning back to look at her fallen brother.

The red haired woman glared at him through her bangs. "This isn't over!" she shouted.

Xin saw her disappear before him and then heard her reappear behind him, kneeling down next to Kaito. She brought her brother into her arms and then they both disappeared in whirl of purple magic.

The warrior let out a soft sigh, knowing that those two must have been Krylin's trusted soldiers.

The blue combo circles disappeared from his body as he slid his Doombringer back into its hold on his back. The fight was over for the time being, but he had suspicions that they might return soon...possibly with reinforcements.

Xin ran through the forest, going back to the crevice where he had left Mytsu.

"Princess?" he asked, peeking into the dark crevice.

He felt relief when he heard her answer back in a haughty tone. "About time you came back!"

Xin chuckled as he held out his hand to her. He helped her out and remarked, "you're quite the spoiled princess, aren't you?"

Briefly forgetting the fact that she hadn't put up her _nice princess_ facade, Mytsu blushed and crossed her arms over her chest.

The swordsman saw this and chuckled again. "I won't tell anyone if it's for your public image."

"H-Huh?"

Xin winked and placed his index finger over his lips. At this, Mytsu blushed harder, partly because of how he was treating her like a little kid and...

"Of-Of course! You better keep it from everyone else!"

Her heart skipped a beat when he laughed in amusement. "Yes, Princess."

...partly because he looked rather charming for a mere knight.

* * *

><p>"You're getting better at healing," Xin told Meg, who was healing the small injuries he received from his fight with Kaito and Saya.<p>

"Really? I've been practicing everyday!" Meg exclaimed happily.

"It shows!"

Everyone had gotten back together again. Luckily, no one had sustained any serious injuries, despite the sudden ambush.

Froid walked up to Xin and looked down at him. "It's really a relief that you didn't get any serious injuries from fighting them. They're really a formidable pair."

"Who were they?"

"The Reconnaissance doesn't know?"

Xin laughed lightly. "We only know our assigned targets. All the other knowledge is carried by you platoon leaders."

The archmage furrowed his brow in thought and knelt down in front of the warrior, meeting him at eye level. "They're siblings, Kaito and Saya Shinrai. From what the Aegis knows, they're considered one of Krylin's most trusted inner circle. If I was her, I'd have them as close to me as possible. Their skills are amazing as bowmen, perhaps even outdoing our bowmaster platoon leader, Dante."

"That might be true, but from what I've seen while fighting them, they're only strong as a pair. Separately, they're easy pickings. Although they may be excellent assassins, they still have one major flaw."

Xin thought back to when he had fatally injured Kaito and Saya had rushed in to help him without thinking.

"All done!" Meg exclaimed, gently touching Xin's now completely healed arm.

"Thank you Meg," he said with a sweet smile. "At this rate, you'll become a high class priest in no time."

Meg blushed at the compliment. "It was nothing."

All three of them stood up and Froid looked towards both Meg and Sean. "Well, it seems like our work here is done. Hope you two aren't too traumatized with what happens in the Aegis on a daily basis," he said with a light chuckle.

Sean responded with his own lighthearted, awkward laugh. "At least we're all okay now." Truthfully, he couldn't wait to get back home to Orbis. It unnerved him to be in this constantly dangerous environment.

"I'll escort Princess Mytsu to Nackt's palace," Xin stated. "Don't worry about a thing," he told Froid in full reassurance.

"I thank you." Froid gave a slight bow of his head. "Have a safe journey."

"You too."

* * *

><p>"It's unfortunate that there was a breach in security." Athena pursed her lips in thought. "I never would have imagined that Mary was a spy. I had run enough background checks on her and her extensive history, but I suppose that wasn't enough. Krylin helped cover all of the bases."<p>

"So what happens now?" Dante asked. "You gave my platoon the task to invade once the first wave manages to take back Ellinia. Am I still going without a martyr?"

"I'll give you further instructions once your platoon reaches Ellinia."

The archer seemed to have a expression of distaste as he said, "I think Alice would be best as my martyr."

"Are you still persistent about that?"

"Yes. We work well together-"

"You two are in a relationship."

"Not anymore."

Athena raised an eyebrow in question. "I still won't allow it. You still harbor feelings for each other. It will get in the way." She narrowed her eyes at him and asked curiously. "Are you sure your feelings for her are gone? I'll only consider it then."

Seeing as how this was getting complicated, Dante let out an annoyed huff and muttered, "forget that I mentioned it." He sharply turned away and walked out of the room. As soon as he closed the door behind him, Dante leaned against it and squeezed his eyes shut.

After learning that Lia was his real mother, he wanted nothing more than to break all ties with her. Supposedly, the last tie that remained was Alice being her martyr.

Dante clenched his teeth, starting to grow more angered with this fact he uncovered a week ago. He remembered how casually she had spoken with him and her simple, motherly gestures towards him.

"How could you be that calm when you _abandoned_ me?"

Feeling the need to walk it off, Dante pushed himself off of the door and strode down the halls. He needed to let off some steam, perhaps training would be the best-

"Oh, Dante? What a coincidence seeing you here!"

Dante stopped in his tracks when he saw the one person he didn't want to see standing in front of him. It burned him up inside when he saw a bright smile on Lia's face as she greeted him.

"Did you finish up your business he-?" Lia faltered when she felt Dante brush past her roughly. She stood there perplexed at how he had ignored her.

Something inside of her chest ached painfully with how he acted towards her.

Lia bowed her head sadly, but she reminded herself that he was probably under a lot of stress with the upcoming invasion. Trying to cheer herself up, Lia nodded and whispered, "that must be it...nothing else."

However, something inside of her, very deep inside of her, said otherwise.

* * *

><p>He narrowed his red eyes at the target ahead of him as he pulled back his bow.<p>

Dante released the arrow and watched it hit the tree, completely missing the target board. He let out a frustrated growl and dropped his Dark Arund onto the ground carelessly. His body glistened with sweat even when it wasn't all that hot and when a cool breeze blew past him, it failed to cool him down.

He took off the leather fingerless gloves he wore and threw them to the ground before taking a seat on a large rock in the secluded training area.

His red eyes went to stare at the dozen or so arrows that had all either missed the target completely or that were embedded in the outer edges of the board. Gritting his teeth, Dante pulled out an arrow from the quiver that lay against the rock and threw it. It flew a few feet before plunging down into the ground.

Anger and frustration built up inside of him and he had no idea how to get rid of it. Training his archery obviously wasn't working at all and it only served to frustrate him even more.

Dante closed his eyes and laid down on the rock, using his arm as a pillow. It wasn't long before he heard some noises and the strange feeling that someone was watching him. At first he had thought it was Lia, thinking that she had followed him out here in worry, but he was proven wrong when he opened up his eyes and saw a familiar pair of blue eyes staring down at him.

"What are you doing?" he grumbled at Alice as he sat up.

She jumped back a little, surprised that he had suddenly woken up. "I was just worried about you..." she mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. "I saw you earlier leaving the council building and you looked mad. Well..._madder_."

"That's not even a word, idiot."

Alice turned a slight pink in the cheeks. "Well sorry for caring about you! I'll just go then-''

"No wait-" Dante sat up a little and held the back of his neck awkwardly. He was angry, but for some reason, seeing her felt like a break from everything else that was happening in his life. "Uhm, s-stay," he stammered out.

Alice blinked in surprise. "If I stay here with you...people might get the wrong idea."

"The only people crazy enough to come out all the way here are you and me. Besides, everyone's busy with the invasion."

"Then why aren't you? Ada told me even Cedric's busy drawing up battle plans for his platoon," Alice inquired, taking a seat on the rock beside Dante. She tilted her head slightly to look at him and she began to wonder why he was angry in the first place. "Do you need help?"

"Huh?"

"With battle plans or something. I was good with battle strategies when I was in the Academy. My instructors told me I could become a platoon leader if I really wanted to-" Her cheeks flared with a blush when she heard Dante snicker. "It's not funny! It's true!"

Dante's laughter escalated, much to Alice's displeasure. She stared at him angrily as he tried to calm himself down.

"I'm glad you're feeling better at my expense, stupid Dante," she grumbled sourly.

He held his hand over his mouth and chuckled. He faced her and said, "I just couldn't tell if you were trying to lend me a helping hand or if you were just bragging."

"I wasn't bragging! Or at least I wasn't trying to! And I think I could make a great platoon leader! I just thought you were stressed over that, so I wanted to help you!"

Dante smiled at her and placed his hand on top of her head. "You're incredibly honest, you know that?"

Alice blushed and muttered, "I was just saying what needed to be said."

"Well...even if you tried to help, there's nothing else left to do. My platoon is just "back-up" for another platoon's first strike. Not much planning to go in to that."

The spearman felt him removed his hand from her head and she looked up at him curiously. "Then...something else is bothering you." When Dante didn't answer her, Alice frowned a little. The way he was keeping things from her was starting to get on her nerves.

"Huh? Hey-!" Dante exclaimed when he felt Alice grab his wrist. He was roughly shoved down onto the slab of rock with both of his arms pinned down. He stared up at Alice for a while before he shouted, "what the hell are you doing?"

Alice glared at him. "I hate how you think you could decide everything for yourself!"

"I don't-!"

"You do!" she shouted, tightening her hands around his wrists. "Ever since I met you, you decided things for yourself. What about me?"

"I decide all those things because I want what's best for you."

"Stupid! This is why you're stupid, Dante! Maybe I never wanted any of those things!" Alice trembled above him as she held back tears and frustration. "When you told me to find another guy, when you told me to forget about you...I never wanted to do any of that!"

"Alice-"

"I never said anything about it until now, because I always thought that you were right. But now...things are falling apart, don't you see it?" Alice asked, her eyes welling up with tears. They fell from her eyes and down onto Dante's cheeks.

"Even with this invasion I don't want to separate from you, Dante. We might be distracting each other and Krylin may play upon that weakness, but that'll just mean that we need to be stronger right?"

Dante stared up at her, realizing that what she was saying was true. All of it was true. The past few years, he had decided everything for her and decided what was best for them, never really asking what her opinion was or never really letting her decide anything.

"So please, don't keep things from me when it's obvious that you're in pain. I'm here! If you need help, I'll be more than glad to help! And if I can't help you on my own power, then we can always work it out together!" Alice sniffled and leaned down. She touched foreheads with him and whispered, "I just want you to trust me. I'm not so helpless like you think I am."

Dante remember what Lia had told him. Trusting Alice was the best thing for him now. She was his best ally.

He closed his eyes as he lay there underneath Alice. "I will," he whispered.

As if those were the magic words, Dante felt a soft kiss on his lips. When she pulled away, Dante slowly opened up his eyes and looked up at her with a half-lidded gaze.

She leaned down again, her long blue hair curtaining their faces. "Then...this first thing...can you trust me when I say this?" she asked softly.

"Yes."

"Please love yourself more. Don't ever leave me alone again because you wanted to protect me. You're worth more than that."

Dante widened his eyes for a moment, before he relaxed them and smiled gently. "Is that an order,_ Miss future platoon leader_?"

Alice giggled softly as she released one of his wrists to wipe away at her tears. "You bet it is. And don't joke about that. I'll become a better platoon leader than you. Just watch me." She leaned down to touch foreheads with him again as she smiled.

The black haired man cupped her cheek and kissed her lovingly. Dante pulled away just slightly and smiled. "I don't have any doubts about that."

She reached up to place her hand over his and hold it there against her face as she gazed down at him with a soft look. "Just trust me. That's all I want from you." Alice closed her eyes and deeply kissed the man trapped below her with great passion. She coaxed his mouth open with her tongue and she played with him thoroughly, despite being inexperienced.

It was as if something led her - drove her - to act so assertive. Perhaps it was her drive to save him from everything that has happened to him. She wanted to help him after all of the pain and suffering he went through. Not help him as a lover, but as a woman that wanted to protect the man she cares for.

When they pulled away, they both panted from the intensity of the kiss.

Dante caught his breath and gently tucked a lock of loose blue hair behind her ear. "I'll tell you then. I'll tell you everything."

* * *

><p>"The plan went through flawlessly, Your Majesty." Mary stated, kneeling down on one knee in front of Krylin.<p>

"I knew you could come through for me, my sweet." Krylin giggled and brought up the paladin's face. "You really do look like the little wench. It seems like the good doctor did an excellent job. Who knew that Dr. Everard would use her own daughter as a test subject?"

Mary smirked haughtily. "She was so easy to break. I found it hard to believe that someone that weak and naive is who I was created from."

The necromancer chuckled before walking off. "Well, in due time, Dante will be mine once more and I'll gain his body to use. Something about his blood beckons me to take it. That's why no one must get in the way when he arrives in Victoria Island on the day of the Aegis invasion. Mary-"

"Yes?"

"On that day, I want you to separate them. You make sure that you crush that little wench. I want her dead. She'll only hinder my plans."

Mary stood up onto her feet and bowed. "Of course, that can definitely be arranged. Me and that weakling are on completely different levels after all."

"And Isabelle?" Krylin asked, referring to the blond gunslinger that stood beside the necromancer's throne. "It seems as though the doctor is cooperating with the Aegis in the present time. We can't let them recreate a perfect warrior like you. Especially in numbers that match an army."

"What do you want me to do?" Isabelle asked, dutifully willing to follow Krylin's orders.

"I think it's time that Dr. Everard takes her _leave_. She served her purpose well for creating such obedient beings like you and Mary, but she is of no more use to me now. Find her and kill her...and make sure that filthy traitor, Ivan is the one to go down in blame for the good doctor's murder."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_I was going to upload this during the server maintenance or whatever last night, but I was too tired. LOL _

_Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, despite it being shorter than my other chapters.~ But I just thought this was a good place to stop it._

_As always, please leave a review. It really means a lot to me and all the support actually gives me more drive to finish a chapter sooner. So, a lot of reviews will make me release the new chapter a week earlier. If not, then I'll be updating this every two weeks ~_

Stay cool, bros


	23. Bloody Murder

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 23 - Bloody Murder**

Alice let out a tired sigh as she stood up straight. She wiped away at the sweat that had gathered on her upper lip with the back of her hand as her other hand tightly held her blue Eviscerator.

It was hard to concentrate on her training, even with the invasion in just two days.

The only thing that dwelled in her mind was what Dante had told her a few days ago.

* * *

><p><em>"Your mother...is Lia?" Alice sat there in shock, staring at the archer with wide blue eyes. "But...so then-" Alice stumbled upon her own words. "-you were the son that she was talking about?" <em>

_Dante let out an amused chuckle. "So, she does talk about me." _

_"We-Well," Alice stammered, "not you personally, but she mentioned that she had a son once or twice." _

_The bowmaster smiled wistfully as he bent over and leaned his elbows down against his knees. "That's foolish of her, especially if she wanted to keep her cover." _

_Alice noticed how Dante's hands were trembling as they remained laced up tightly in front of his lips. She knew how sensitive of a topic this was to him._

_"Dante?...Were you mad at your mom earlier?" _

_"That woman's not my mother." _

_"H-Huh?" _

_Dante turned his head slightly to face her. "What kind of "mother" leaves her child in the time of a conflict?" _

_"But I'm sure Lia had a reason! Lia would never-!" _

_"It doesn't matter anymore. Now that I know she's alive, I want to sever all ties with her. She must have known I was her son all along and yet she didn't even bother saying anything. I'm tired of not knowing and her lying to me." _

* * *

><p>The blue haired woman dropped her head as she flopped down on the cool green grass. Her light gray top was damp with sweat so, it felt relieving when a breeze rolled past her.<p>

"You shouldn't be lying down when the invasion is only a few days away."

Alice sat up at the sound of Dante's voice and frowned. "I was training," she argued.

Dante stood over her and smirked down at her. "I know. Your stances could use some work."

"And what do you know about warrior training?" she asked.

"Not much."

"Then why-?"

"But you did look distracted."

Alice faltered, turning away from him. She didn't want to tell him that she was still thinking about their conversation concerning Lia. It would bring down the mood.

"Get up," he told her, bending down to pick up her discarded Eviscertor. It took him a little bit of effort, but he picked up the heavy weapon nonetheless.

As Alice got up to her feet apprehensively, Dante handed her the polearm. "I still don't know how you manage to run around carrying that thing," he said as he went around behind her.

She felt him get up close so that his chest met her back. He wrapped his large hands around her smaller ones and handled the polearm.

"What are you doing?" she asked skeptically.

"Building trust."

Alice quirked an eyebrow up, not really sure what he was talking about.

"Run through your stances. I'll follow."

Unsure what he was getting at, Alice uneasily started to move her arms and legs. She felt Dante move with her.

"Uhm, Dante?" Alice asked. "I don't really get it..." she mumbled, confusion in her tone.

"We should be in sync more."

"Eh?"

Dante stopped for a moment, stopping Alice as well. He leaned down so that his lips gently brushed against the top of her head. "I want you as my martyr again," he muttered, closing his eyes.

"Dante..."

Alice shut her blue eyes and gently pried herself away from him. She turned around and looked up at him. "I know I told you I would help you with anything, but I can't do this."

"What?"

"I know you want to sever your ties with Lia, but...she's my platoon leader. I can't just leave her."

"You wanted to leave me back when you got assigned to be my martyr."

She rolled her eyes slightly and stabbed her Eviscertor into the ground beside her. "That's different. You were an asshole."

Dante looked at her sourly, but said nothing back because he knew that it was true.

"But Lia...she's very important to me. I know you hate her, but don't make me hate her too for your sake." Alice saw Dante's disappointed reaction and she cautiously raised a hand to touch his cheek. "I'm sorry...but trust me?"

"About what?" he grumbled.

"Lia does everything for a reason. She's kind and caring...she would never abandon you without a good reason."

Dante moved away her hand from his face as he muttered, "don't praise her so much in front of me."

"I'm not. It's just the truth about her." Alice turned away somberly and muttered under her breath, "I know she's a better mother than mine." She clenched her fists and looked up at Dante, her lips pursed in determination. "I can't leave Lia. I'm her martyr."

The archer stared at her for a while, before letting out a sigh in defeat. He smiled just slightly and chuckled. "I already knew you'd say something like this. You're just as stubborn as you claim me to be."

"You're still more stubborn than I am."

Dante let out a stifled laugh. "You're being stubborn again."

Alice blushed and stammered out, "I-I'm not! You're the one that's-!" Her voice faltered when she saw him looking down at her with a rather loving gaze. She blushed lightly and grumbled out, "what...?"

"I'm not sure if it's you who changed or it's me who's changed."

"Eh?"

"It used to annoy me you know? The way how you were naive and on top of that, stubborn about everything."

The blue haired girl frowned slightly.

Dante noticed this and laughed. "Idiot..." He took hold of her hand. "Actually...uh-"

Alice quirked an eyebrow up in question when she saw how Dante suddenly looked somewhat embarrassed. "What is it?"

He ran his thumb over her smooth knuckles and mumbled out incomprehensible words. Finally he cleared his throat softly and mumbled, "there's this celebration...or no- festival. I was wondering if you could go with me..."

"Huh? I can't hear you-"

Dante glared at her as if it was her fault that he had to repeat himself. Loudly, he said, "there's a pre-battle festival! Just go with me!"

Alice stood there blinking at him in pure confusion before she asked, "did you just ask me out?"

The raven haired man blushed wildly. He scratched the back of his head and spoke very quickly. "It's not a date if that's what you think it is, idiot! Athena just thought it would be nice to boost the morale of the Aegis before we head into battle. It's just a silly little festival. Cedric said he wants to go with Ada so-"

He faltered when he felt Alice take his hand in hers.

Alice giggled at how embarrassed he was. "I'll go with you then."

"It's not a date!"

She simply smiled, causing him to blush even more. "I know."

All Dante did was growl under his breath at how hot his face felt and how much his heart was beating inside of his chest. What was he doing acting like a stupid love struck teenager? He was past that!

* * *

><p>"Should we get these too?" Minna hummed as she picked through the different selections of colorful cupcake sprinkles. "Excuse me," she called over the vendor, "can I get these two sprinkles?"<p>

Ivan watched as the vendor took out a small paper bag and scooped up the two different sprinkles from the display jars.

The bubbly cleric smiled, turning towards Ivan. "Hopefully Alice won't mind us dropping by for a visit! I'm sure Sean will want to help us make these cupcakes anyways." She paid for the bag of sprinkles and placed them in her basket filled with a variety of cupcake making ingredients. "Okay! I think we're done! I wanted to get everything before the festival starts

Minna took Ivan's hand in hers and giggled when she saw embarrassment cross over his normally stoic expression. Despite the fact that Ivan was not very expressive most of the time, he never failed to express himself towards her.

When both of them neared Alice's house, they saw a familiar person step out from it.

"Alice-!" Abruptly, Minna stopped herself when she saw the face of the woman. It was Alice's mother, Dr. Everard. Immediately, she felt Ivan's hand stiffen and tighten around hers.

The older woman closed the front door and turned towards them at the sound of her daughter's name. She raised an eyebrow and finally a look of realization passed across her face.

"Ah...well if it isn't my prototype."

Minna knew how this encounter was bothering Ivan greatly, so she tried to steer the conversation to a quick close. "U-Uhm, Ms. Everard..."

"_Doctor_," she corrected.

"Uhm, Doctor Everard...we're in a bit of a hurry. You wouldn't happen to know where Alice is?"

The doctor scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "For all I know, she could be gallivanting around with that boy, Dante or something." Carelessly she waved her hand before adjusting the thin glasses on her face. "No matter, she could do whatever it is she wants."

She smirked a little when her blue eyes rested on Ivan.

"Nice to see my prototype is still doing okay. Not bad for a failed experiment."

Minna felt Ivan tense up and quickly she held him back with a gentle tug of his arm, silently telling him that it wasn't worth it. Once the doctor walked away, Minna told the gunslinger in a soft voice, "don't believe a word she says."

Ivan looked down at the young woman and saw her smiling up at him.

Silently, she pulled on his arm, leading him towards the front door of Alice's house.

Just then a girl ran past them, so quickly and hastily that she bumped into Ivan's shoulder. He flinched at the impact and stumbled slightly, letting go of Minna's hand in the process.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl exclaimed. She got up on her feet and apologized profusely, bowing multiple times before running off again.

Ivan had opened his mouth to tell her it was okay, but by then she was already halfway down the street and out of earshot.

"Are you okay, Ivan?" Minna asked, gently patting his shoulder that had gotten bumped into.

"I'm fine." Ivan muttered, looking over towards the direction where the girl had run to. Something didn't feel right - his hand went down to his holster around his waist and felt for his gun. When all he felt was an empty holster, his green eyes widened and immediately he looked down.

"My gun," he said under his breath."

"Huh?" Minna looked down at his empty holster and saw that his weapon was missing. "Did that girl take it when she bumped into you?"

"Probably a thief..." Ivan narrowed his eyes down the road.

"Should I help you look for her?"

"No. Something was off about her...I can't really quite say what, but-" Ivan turned towards Minna, "I'll search for her after I get my spare gun from our room. Just in case..."

The cleric nodded. "Be back soon."

As soon as Ivan left, Minna looked on after him until he disappeared from her sight. She suddenly felt uneasy with what he had said. "Just in case?" she muttered to herself, already starting to feel worried.

* * *

><p>Everything was looking blurry and distorted. The ground seemed like it wouldn't stop shaking and her head felt as if it would explode from the pressure she felt.<p>

Meg swayed slightly as she walked down the busy street. She let out a little whimper from the pain she felt inside of her. It felt as if someone was sticking her whole body with a thousand arrows.

"Ow..." she whimpered softly as she held her chest.

The pains started to happen as soon as she had returned from her quest with Sean and Froid. She had thought that it was just a small head cold she had gotten from the cold weather in El Nath, but when the pains persisted and increased dramatically in pain, far beyond what a simple cold could offer, Meg knew that it was something serious.

Meg closed her eyes tightly and fell to her knees off towards the side of the street. No one really seemed to be paying much attention to her as she knelt there doubled over in the growing aches.

In her mind she saw brief images of a clear environment. A beautiful, grand tree in the middle of it all, bearing gold embellished fruits that looked ripe to eat. A clear spring surrounding the whole thing with water so clear she could drink it...

"Meg? Is that you?"

The blond opened up her eyes weakly and turned her head to see who had mentioned her name. It was Sean's older sister, Alice.

"U-Uhm..." was all Meg could manage to stammer out as she felt the pain doubling inside of her.

Alice, with Dante following behind her, knelt down in front of the young girl and worriedly placed her hand on Meg's back. "Meg, should we take you to the infirmary? Are you hurt somewhere?"

"I-I don't know," Meg said, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Just make it stop. It hurts so much..."

"We should probably get her to the infirmary," said Dante.

Alice made a motion to attempt to pick Meg up in her arms, but was stopped by Dante.

"I'll carry her," he stated, "you go to the council and find Grendel." Dante gently touched Meg's shoulder as she began to break into a cold sweat. "This looks serious."

* * *

><p>"It's hard to say at this point."<p>

"Eh? What does that mean?" Alice asked Grendel. "She'll live...right?"

Judging by the silence she was met with, Alice pursed her lips in distress. "Then...she won't?"

"Like I said, it's hard to say at this point, Miss Everard. I'm sorry, I know how close Meg is to your little brother. Perhaps notifying him of this situation would be best."

Alice watched as Grendel walked back into the room where Meg was being treated. She had absolutely no idea how Sean was going to take this news, or how she was going to tell him.

"I'm sure Grendel will do his best," Dante said, placing his hand on Alice's shoulder.

Sadly, Alice placed her hand over his and nodded, trying to be optimistic. "Of course...he's the best healer."

He sensed her worry and turned her around gently. "What's wrong?" he asked, facing her.

Alice let out a soft sigh. "I guess I just don't like stuff like this. People dying..."

"No one does." Dante gently pushed his index finger against her forehead. "You'll get wrinkles if you keep making a worried face like that."

The spearman frowned and clapped her hand over her forehead. "But...I-!"

"Everything will be fine."

"Even with the invasion coming up?"

Dante saw Alice's big blue eyes fill with worry and at that time he knew the real reason behind her downtrodden actions. "We're all working hard to make sure there are no unnecessary deaths." He tilted his head slightly to look at her face. "...Is that what you were worried about?"

"Of course, but...maybe also..." Alice held her arm and cautiously peeked up at him. Then in a soft whisper, she said under her breath, "I don't want things repeating itself."

"Huh?"

The raven haired man peered down at Alice's small hand as she gripped at the long sleeves of his black shirt. She tugged at the soft cotton material and mumbled, "I just don't want to lose you again. I don't want to lose anyone."

"You won't." Dante gently pulled away her hand and wrapped his arms around her. He gently ran his fingers through her long blue hair. "You won't lose Ada, Minna, Sean...even me. And Meg will be fine. Grendel is doing the best he can."

"Really...?" she asked, feeling some sort of small relief even when she knew that Dante couldn't be absolutely right, but she felt comfort in his words.

"Really."

* * *

><p>"Xin has sent word that Princess Mytsu and Queen Nackt have gathered together their resources and are already finalizing the plans for the invasion."<p>

"They're fast," Dances commented.

Athena rolled up the small scroll that was sent by Xin. "That's how it needs to be done. The invasion in only in a few days. The platoon leaders should be finishing up their final battle plans and collaborations soon." She sighed and set the scroll aside before she focused her attention on Dark.

"What became of Kyrin?"

Dark showed some level of discontent on his face at the mention of the Pirate Queen's name. "We shouldn't count on her to help in the invasion. It's virtually impossible to get in contact with her anymore. The Nautilus disappeared along with her and her crew."

"She isn't one to back down from a fight...but I suppose we're just wasting time on her, especially if she has no interest in helping." Athena pursed her lips, obviously in the same amount of disappointment as Dark was. While Kyrin showed no real interest in fighting off Krylin, she didn't know that the pirate would downright ignore her fellow council members.

"There's...no chance that she could have sided with Krylin already, right?" Dark asked suspiciously.

Athena narrowed her icy blue eyes at him. "Don't even joke about that, Dark. She may be a ruthless pirate, but she would never support Krylin. She's not that dishonorable."

* * *

><p>Minna worriedly looked out the window as she laid out the freshly baked cupcakes on the kitchen counter.<p>

"Minna? Is something wrong?" Sean asked as he whipped up the frosting in the small mixing bowl.

"Eh?" She turned back around towards the young boy and quickly shook her head. "N-No! Of course not!" A little nervous laugh passed her lips as she gently patted the head of one of the cupcakes.

"Are you sure?"

The strawberry blond's lip twitched just slightly as she lowered her head. "We-Well...maybe...a little. It's just so late...Ivan should be back by now." She stole another glance outside.

Sean noticed the cleric's worrisome expression. "You can go and look for him, Minna." He smiled sweetly at her. "I can finish up here."

Minna nodded and thanked him, taking off her apron and keeping her eyes locked against the window. She rushed out of the house, a bit more hastily than she had wanted to, and ran down the streets of Orbis.

While the soft light from the many street lamps kept the surrounding illuminated, Minna still had a problem looking around and identifying the various faces of the people that she passed.

"Ivan?" she called out, breathing heavily in panic. Something definitely wasn't right.

"Ivan!" Minna ran towards the still crowded marketplace, now brimming with the beginnings of late night festivities. The night air felt bitterly cold to her as she searched for the pirate. Her voice and her actions became more frantic when it seemed as though she had no hope in finding him.

* * *

><p>Dante glanced down at Alice, who was sitting beside him on the bench. It was obvious that she was still bothered by what happened to Meg and the reality of the upcoming battle.<p>

All around them, the joyous festivities were taking place. Children running around and playing with sparklers, street vendors selling scrumptious food, bards and performers singing and dancing along to cheerfully uplifting music...and yet, they seemed like the only ones that weren't affected by it all.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked her.

Alice fiddled with her fingers for a while before responding. "...How am I supposed to tell Sean about Meg? He'll be so devastated. I don't want to lie to him...so..."

"Then don't."

"Easier said than done."

Dante crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "And Cedric says _I'm_ gloomy."

Pursing her lips up in annoyance, Alice muttered, "I can't help it if I worry."

"You're worrying too much then. Sean can handle himself-"

"It's not only Sean I'm worried about!" she shouted, getting some attention from the people around them. "Everything's starting to go downhill so, I'm getting worried for you too!"

"Huh? Why-?"

"Did you already forget? You said Mary infected you with Krylin's magic again."

Dante motioned with his hand, silently telling the blue haired girl to lower her voice. He noticed that she was getting attention from more people around them. Seeing as how they couldn't carry out a private conversation like this in public, Dante took hold of her hand and quickly muttered under his breath, "come here."

He dragged Alice into a small, isolated alleyway, away from the festivities and people.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in a hushed tone.

Alice furrowed her brow slightly and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're not even remotely worried about Krylin's magic being inside you again. I found out that the spell Athena casted to remove it before was really difficult."

"There's no point in worrying. It'll do no good right now with the battle coming up."

"But Dante-!"

He hushed her right up when he placed his forearm right beside her head against the wall. His gaze was steady and unwavering, showing her that he was firm in his decision to ignore the situation for now.

"Remember how long it took Krylin's magic to work on me last time? This can wait for the next few days, right?"

Alice, still discontent with this decision, unwillingly nodded. "I guess so..." she muttered.

"It will be different this time."

"How?"

Dante smiled at her and gently stroked her cheek with his other hand. "I told you everything this time and...you'll be by my side?" he asked of her gently.

Without any delay or second thought, Alice nodded. "Of course I will!"

At her immense willingness to help, Dante let out soft laugh. "You don't have to be that adamant about it."

Alice pursed her lips in embarrassment and shouted, "but you told me that other time in the infirmary that I could save you!"

"That I did." Dante leaned down and lowered his eyelids. "Just so we're clear, what I said that time wasn't a request. It was an order. Save me this time."

She trembled as she saw him lean in closer for a kiss. However, just before their lips met each other's...

_BANG!_

The sudden noise of the loud gunshot startled both of them and quickly Dante pulled away.

"What was that?" Alice asked.

"It sounded a lot like...-"

They both looked down the alleyway and at that precise moment, they saw a familiar blond gunslinger running past the entryway of the alley.

"Isn't that Ivan?" Alice ran out of the alley and got out onto the main streets.

It was pure chaos. The joyous festivities had halted and people were running all over the place. The mere sound of a gunshot was enough for some of them to think that Orbis was under attack. Amidst the crowd, Alice could see that a few platoon leaders were trying to quell the chaos, but it wasn't enough.

"Why was he running away?" Dante asked as he came up behind Alice.

"I don't know. I don't even know where he went!"

"We need to find him. No doubt that he knows of the gunshot we just heard."

The two of them ran down the street in the direction where they saw Ivan run away. Neither of them paid much attention to the crowd that was now gathering at the opposite end of the street.

"Help! Someone! Someone's been murdered!"

"Get back everyone!"

Blood stained the pale white cobblestone ground and trickled down slowly from underneath the mass of blue hair. Her glasses lay beside her head, the lenses cracked. Her blue eyes were wide open and staring off into the night sky above.

One of the platoon leaders knelt down beside her and sighed when he saw the single bullet hole right in between her eyes. Froid came up beside him and stared at the bloody scene in front of him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Tell Athena that Julia Everard has been murdered."

"Do we know who?"

The elderly platoon leader grimly stood up, keeping his eyes on the dead doctor. "It was brief, but I was sure of it." He turned to Froid and answered, "it was one of our own, Ivan Alfort."

* * *

><p>He knew something was going on. He knew it the moment his gun went missing and when he had returned back to their room, he saw that a few articles of his clothes were gone.<p>

And now all this was happening...

_BANG!_

Ivan had caught a glimpse of the attack. It all seemed to happen in a split second. One minute he had spotted the back silhouette of the doctor and in the next minute she was falling backwards lifelessly.

His breath hitched in his throat when he saw the person standing in front of the doctor, the one that had shot her.

He saw himself.

Briefly, he made eye contact with the shooter and something inside of him clicked. The look that he saw in those green eyes...there was no mistaking it.

"Isabelle..." he whispered through clenched teeth.

Just as he said her name, chaos broke out in the whole marketplace. He was shoved and bumped into as crowds of people screamed and tried to run away.

He tried to look over the heads of the people, hoping to see her again, but he saw no signs of her at all. Just like the wind, she was gone.

Ivan then raised his head and widened his green eyes when he spotted her hiding in the shadows on a low rooftop. They met gazes again and she ran away. He gave chase to her, running and occasionally brushing past several people hard enough that he knocked them over, but he didn't stop to apologize.

Once he got out of the large crowd, he saw the flap of his brown coat out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw the female gunslinger running off into Orbis Park.

He chased her, never letting his eyes off of her figure.

"Stop!" he shouted.

When they reached a dark area of the park, she had stopped running, letting him finally catch up to her.

Ivan panted as he kept his eyes on her back. Indeed, she really had taken on his appearance. She had on his brown coat, his brown tricorne hat...it explained all the missing clothes in his room.

She finally turned around to meet him with a slight smirk. "This was revenge." Isabelle took off his hat and tossed it onto the ground out in front of him.

"I never did anything to you."

"Not me." Isabelle closed her eyes and pulled off the short blond wig she had on. She let loose her long, knee length hair and shook it out. "This was on Krylin's whim."

"Is this for betraying her?" Ivan asked, his emerald green eyes narrowing.

The female pirate said nothing as she pulled out Ivan's gun from her holster. She waved it in front of him before she carelessly tossed it onto the ground beside his hat. "Now the Aegis will eat you alive."

Ivan clenched his teeth and quickly pulled out his spare gun. He shot off a round at her, but she dodged it and quickly made her escape. She had jumped up into one of the high trees and looked down at him.

"I'm disappointed that we're even part of the same experiment. Mother shouldn't have wasted her time creating you. Wasting all your time on that little cleric...she's the reason why you betrayed Krylin and she intends on making her pay."

"...What?"

Her eyes flickered over to the sound of footsteps approaching the area. Ivan heard these footsteps too and whipped around to face them.

"Ivan! Hey!"

He saw Alice and Dante running up to him. There was a rustling of leaves behind him and he turned back around, briefly forgetting about Isabelle.

She was already gone.

"What were you running from?" Alice asked suspiciously. She leaned over slightly and spotted his discarded gun on the ground behind him.

"I wasn't running," he said a bit harsher than he wanted it to be. "I was chasing Isabelle."

"Where is she?" questioned Dante, having his own suspicions as well. He saw the gun lying on the ground as well as the spare gun that Ivan held in his hand. "Was she the reason you decided to fire your gun in a crowded marketplace?"

Ivan frowned and furrowed his brow, not liking how they were starting to imply things. "I didn't fire my gun. It was Isabelle."

"Then where is she?"

"She just ran away as soon as she killed Dr. Everard!"

Alice blinked in shock. "Wh-Who...?" she asked softly.

Although the damage had been done, Ivan bit back his tongue when he realized that the doctor was Alice's mother.

"It's hard to believe you when no one has seen her," Dante stated, hoping to pull the conversation away from what happened to Dr. Everard. He glanced over to Alice and saw that she was in a state of slight shock.

Ivan clenched his fists in frustration. "I'm not making anything up! Why would I?"

"Well...you were on bad relations with Alice's mother in the first place. We all disliked her, but you seemed to loathe her."

The pirate squeezed at the handle of his spare gun and Dante started to eye it warily.

"Even though I may have some human emotions, I won't do something so irrational like murdering someone like that. I haven't completely abandoned my instincts as a bioweapon."

Interrupting their conversation, Alice asked in a shaking tone, "i-is my mother really dead?"

Seeing as how arguing and having an open interrogation wasn't doing her any good, Dante stepped in and said to the blond gunslinger, "let's just discuss this back at the council building with Athena."

"Why?" Ivan asked, glaring at the bowman with his emerald green eyes. He was suspicious. "I don't think I need to explain myself any further. Isn't it obvious that it wasn't me?"

"No, it's not. The fact that there was a gunshot, you running away from it right after, the person you hate the most is now dead...you really think we don't have the right to be suspicious? And the fact that you're acting so defensive isn't helping either."

"You're only going to take me in just to throw me in prison."

"Only if you're guilty. If you're innocent, then you have nothing to worry about."

Ivan backed away, wary of Dante.

"Ivan-"

"Forget it," he whispered.

"What?" Dante suddenly stepped back and took Alice's wrist when he saw the pirate draw his spare gun as well as pick up his discarded Shark Tooth Sharpshooter. "Ivan..." he said in a warning voice.

"By the way you're talking to me, it's like you've already pegged me as guilty." Ivan clicked both of his guns and held them tightly as he backed up slowly. "No matter who I talk to, you or Athena...you'll all see me as guilty. You need someone to blame for Everard's death and Isabelle isn't enough for you."

"Ivan, what the hell's wrong with you-?"

"Everyone saw it!"

"What?"

The pirate applied some pressure on the triggers, but not enough so that they would fire. "Everyone saw that it was me that killed the doctor! Isabelle stole my weapon, my clothes, she dressed up as me and went out to kill her!" Ivan motioned to the discarded hat on the ground. "That's mine and she even went as so far to break into my room! So many people saw her shoot Everard, but they saw her as me! No matter how you say it or present it, the council will find me guilty."

Dante shook his head. "I'll talk to Athena then-"

"Don't even bother. You may be a platoon leader, but the majority saw what happened and will tell her I murdered the doctor. You can't do anything about it."

"Don't do anything stupid, Ivan..."

The corsair pulled out a small grenade from his coat pockets and struck it against a tree, lighting it up. Just before the fuse went out, he closed his eyes and whispered, "tell Minna I'm sorry."

"Ivan-!"

Ivan threw down the grenade right in between them. The small bomb exploded once it made contact with the ground, sending a cloud of smoke into the air as well as debris.

Dante quickly took a still stunned Alice into his arms and ducked down behind a tree. It seemed as though the explosion brought her back to reality.

"Where did Ivan go?" Alice asked as she looked around.

"Damn it," Dante muttered under his breath, peeking out from behind the tree. "He's only making things worse on himself. I don't understand why he would do that. He's innocent."

"Really? But he-"

"His answers were geniune. I'm sure Minna would say the same thing."

Alice looked at the small crater that was formed from Ivan's grenade. "Minna..." she whispered sadly. "Minna's not going to like this."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_I'm sorry for the late chapter QQ_

_I kept deleting, rewriting certain parts to this so, that's why this is such a late release. I know that there's not much "Exciting" stuff happening in this chapter, but next chapter will be the start of the invasion and as I promise, there much more information and an explanation on Dr. Everard's bioweapon/artificial humans experiments, World Tree, Xeros, Ivan's fate, and the mystery behind Lia's actions of "abandoning" Dante when he was a baby. _

_I thank all the people that have reviewed and that were patient with this chapter. I know you were all probably expecting a lot more and I promise I'll deliver those plot twists and such in the next few chapters! This chapter's just sort of setting the stage for the next few chapters which will be the invasion. _


	24. Words From A Dead Son

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 24 - Words From A Dead Son**

"I don't understand..."

Minna let out a soft cry as she buried her face in her hands. She was in complete distress and shock over what Dante had told her.

"I'm sorry, Minna..."

"Why...?" she squeaked out, hastily wiping away her tears before she faced the archer. "Ivan wouldn't do something like this! He wouldn't just run away!"

"He thought for sure that he would be guilty for murdering Alice's mom."

"But, he didn't have to! I mean, I could have talked to Athena! You could have talked to her too! You were there with Alice! He wasn't guilty, right?"

Dante looked away uneasily. "I, uhm, I guess."

Minna furrowed her brow in confusion, quick to jump to conclusions. "Huh? You _guess_? Ivan's innocent!"

"I never said he wasn't."

The cleric snapped at him angrily. "Then what was 'I guess?' He's innocent!"

Dante let out a low sigh from his throat as he held the back of his neck. "Minna...he was acting really suspicious when I started to question him about it. Plus, we saw him running away from the scene as soon as the gunshot went off."

"So?! That doesn't prove anything!" Minna bunched up her fists and shouted, "I can't believe you, Dante! Ivan fought alongside you when you went after Krylin and now, you can't even take his side in this matter!"

"Minna-"

Before Dante could say anything else, Minna turned her back towards him and ran out of the council building.

Seeing as how nothing he said really mattered, Dante didn't bother to go after her in order to reason. It wasn't like she would do anything irrational just a day before the invasion.

"Did something happen?

Dante flinched at the familiar voice belonging to Lia. He stood his ground when he heard her footsteps approach him from behind. However, as soon as he saw her standing beside him, he wordlessly attempted to leave.

"Wait," Lia said, grabbing him by the arm.

"What?"

The fire mage faltered for a minute before she spoke. "Did I...upset you? I'm only asking this because it seems like you're...avoiding me."

Choosing to remain silent, Dante pulled his arm away from her grasp. "Why does that matter?"

"Talk to me Dante."

"Why should I?"

"Huh?" Lia stood there, surprised at how cold his tone was towards her. "I just want to know what I did for you to act this way towards me."

When Dante didn't say anything again, Lia grabbed his arm again, but this time he harshly avoided her.

"Stop!" he yelled at her.

"Dante-"

"Just stop bothering me! Leave me alone!" He saw her mouth slightly open in shock and he laughed softly in disbelief. "Don't act like you don't know anything!"

"What are you saying-?"

"When were you planning to tell me that you were my mother?!"

In that instant, Dante saw her whole body freeze. He knew that he had touched upon a sensitive nerve and he wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Dante, please let's go somewhere else and talk about this-!"

"Why are you so secretive?! I already know! I already know everything!"

"...You do?"

Dante simply glared at her. "It really wasn't that hard to figure out." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the folded over photo of his parents. Roughly, he took her hand and shoved it into her palm.

Lia recognized the paper quality to be that of her aged photos. Her fingers twitched as she ran them over the crumpled photos. "Why didn't you say anything to me...?" she asked softly, her voice on the brink of cracking from tears.

"Why didn't _you_?" asked Dante, his voice dripping with spite. "First you abandon me and then you pretend you don't even recognize me. Even though you're blind, you should know at least that much, right?"

"Dante! I would never abandon you!"

"Disappearing without a trace and leaving me in the care of other people, if that isn't abandoning me, I don't know what is!"

"That's not true!" Lia replied, wrapping her hands around the old photograph. She cried softly and was thankful that she couldn't sense anyone else in the corridor that night. "I love you with all of my heart, Dante. You...you're my precious son and I never wanted to lose you."

"Then who's bright idea was it to leave me in the middle of a war? Was it Alec's?"

The black haired woman shook her head quickly. "Your father loved you just as much as I did!" Lia wept into her hands, unable to contain her emotions that she had kept bottled up for years. "Dante, please believe me. I love you so, so much. I did everything to protect you!"

"Leaving me alone is hardly "protecting" me."

Dante's hand trembled and his blunt nails dug deep into his palms, sure to leave angry red marks. Indeed, in the past he did have a great need to know what had happened to his parents. But now...he wasn't sure what he was feeling.

"You being away from us, not knowing your parents, your lineage, was the best thing I could think of."

He stared down at his crying mother and slowly saw her blurring up. Quickly, Dante turned away from her, trying to hide his eyes now glossy with tears, even though he knew that she couldn't see him.

"...Just stay away from me. I don't want anything to do with you anymore."

Dante quickly left Lia standing in the corridor. He wasn't sure what to do or what to feel at that moment. All he did was walk.

Was he supposed to stay mad, even when she claimed that it was to protect him? It never occurred to him what she meant exactly by "protect." He was still reeling from their heated encounter.

"Shit..." he whispered, wiping away his tears with the back of his hand. The rough edges from his leather fingerless gloves scratched at his face, so he quickly took them off and held them in his hand as he took the time to calm himself.

"Are you okay...?" he heard a soft voice ask from behind him.

Thinking that it was Lia, Dante clenched his teeth and whipped around. "Didn't I tell you to-!?" He stopped himself when he saw that it was Alice.

The blue haired girl looked at him with slightly frightened eyes. She held a basket of apples, some of which had fallen to the ground when she stepped back suddenly.

Dante realized the error he made and held his head in shame. "I...I'm sorry...I thought you were someone else," he muttered, kneeling down to pick up the fallen apples.

Alice stared down at him, surprised with how he acted so rashly. She knew that something had happened to him, something big, but she didn't want to question him about it. It probably would have made his temper flare even more.

Instead, she knelt down in front of him and placed her hand on one of the apples in his hand.

He didn't raise his head, but Alice changed that by gently cupping his chin. She turned his head towards her and raised a thumb up to wipe away a loose tear.

"You missed one," she said.

Dante turned a slight color in his cheeks and snapped his head away. He picked up the remaining apples and placed them into Alice's basket.

However, before he could leave, Alice tugged on his leather vest.

"What?" he asked, his voice wispy and broken.

"Uhm...would you like to come over? Sean's going to make apple pie!"

"Maybe next time-"

"You'll like it," she insisted, not letting go of his shirt. "He makes it really sweet."

Dante lowered his heavy eyes away from her, trying not to look at her warm smile, fearing that he'd be pulled in. However, even when he didn't look at her, the continuous hold on his shirt said that he wasn't going anywhere.

Silently, he gave in.

Alice smiled at him and led him towards her house. Once there, the door burst open even before she got to open it.

"Where were you!?" Sean asked. "The pie dough needs to be cooked right now, you know?"

Alice waved her hand, handing him the basket of apples. "Here, here," she sighed. "A few of them fell though, but Dante helped pick them up!"

Sean opened up the door more and peeked out until he saw the archer standing at the bottom of the front steps to their house. "Oh Dante!" the young boy cheerfully piped up. "How are you? I haven't seen you in a while."

The two siblings looked at each other uneasily when Dante didn't say anything and didn't even make eye contact.

It was Alice who spoke up first, breaking the silence. "Dante wanted to eat your apple pie, Sean! So I brought him over. We have enough, right?"

"Yeah, of course!" Sean exclaimed, trying to lighten up the mood himself. He quickly ushered the two inside and closed the door behind them. "I'll get started on the pie then."

* * *

><p>The sound of old book pages flipping over was the only sound in the whole archives.<p>

Athena quirked a blond eyebrow up as she approached one aisle of bookshelves that had a flicker of light emitting from in between them. As soon as she got there, she heard the quick noise of a book snapping shut and being placed back up onto the bookshelf.

She cautiously peeked around the shelf, having a suspicion that it might be an intruder. No one was authorized to come into the archives without one of the council member's permission.

"Xin?" the elven archer asked, clearly surprised with who she saw.

"Oh...Miss Athena," the young man replied with a small smile.

"You know you need one of the council member's permission to be in here, Xin."

He laughed lightheartedly, thinking none too much of Athena's warning voice. "I'm sorry. I just had something I needed to check." Xin reached up and patted several books. "You know, battle plans and such for tomorrow."

"Did you come back with the princess?"

"No. Nackt is taking good care of her, so I thought I should just head back here by myself. Nackt's army should be departing El Nath soon to help us with the invasion."

"That's good to hear." Athena raised an eyebrow suspiciously when she saw Xin continuously shoot glances at the bookshelf beside him. "Did you...have more business to attend to in here?"

"No, no! I'm done." Xin laughed in a sheepish manner. He walked over to her and was led out by the elf.

"Has Alice been doing okay? I heard that her mother was killed a few days ago."

Athena shrugged her shoulders a little. "I haven't seen her around that much, but she seems to be holding up just fine. The doctor wasn't really the best in terms of being a mother to Alice and Sean, so they aren't grieving over her intensely."

"I see. That's good then! Well...good for Alice at least, not for Dr. Everard."

"Hm." Athena shot him a suspicious glance with how jumpy he was acting, but decided to let it rest. "Make sure that I don't catch you in here again," she said once they got out of the archives.

Xin chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I understand. I'm sorry, I'll try to be more discreet next time."

"Xin..."

"I'm just joking. I promise I won't come in here unless I get permission." He gave another light chuckle and turned to walk away. "Goodnight, Miss Athena. I'll do my best to prepare for the invasion in a few hours!"

As he walked away, his smile faded with each step. His dark blue eyes hardened into an intense gaze as he strode down the halls of the archive building. What he read before he was discovered by Athena was both confusing and surprising to him.

All the past cloning experiments, the bioweapons that will never die, artificial human beings...all of it didn't make any sense.

* * *

><p>"Dante! Don't eat the whole thing! You'll get fat!"<p>

The black and white husky drooped its ears and whined as Sean shooed him away from the last apple pie that was on the kitchen counter.

In a rather disgruntled look, Dante stared at the dog as it slowly walked over to Alice's side. "I still don't get why you had to name him 'Dante.'"

Alice giggled as she pet the dog on the head. "I can't change it now. He got used to it. Plus, he got so lovable! He used to snap at me all the time."

"And how does that relate to anything?" Dante asked, grumbling. He saw the husky approach him and place its head on his knee, as if asking for him to pet its head.

"See?"

Alice turned to look at Sean. "Are you going somewhere?" she asked, seeing him wrap up one whole pie in a checkered handkerchief.

The young boy nodded excitedly. "I'm going to go see Meg! I'm sure she's sick of eating all that hospital food!" Sean flashed a toothy grin and tied the knot for the handkerchief. "Oh! I almost forgot!"

He leaned over the kitchen counter and pulled out a black leather collar. "Here," he said, tossing it over to Alice. "I made that for Dante and just finished it today! Could you put it on him and make sure it fits?"

Immediately, Alice turned a soft cherry red in her cheeks as she looked over at Dante. Their eyes met and she knew that he had the same exact idea as her, judging by the mortified look on his face.

"U-Uhm...Sean...?"

Dante was the first to respond. He sourly brought his fist down on the table, not too roughly, but enough so that it made a low thump. "I'm _not_ wearing a dog collar."

Sean frowned a little in complete confusion as he stared at the two. "What are you talking about? It's for him." He said, picking up the pie and motioning over to the husky that was now happily running around in circles beside Dante.

Both Alice and Dante collectively lowered their heads in embarrassment and mumbled a silent, "oh."

"See?" Sean said, going up to the husky and kneeling down beside him.

The dog turned its head to nip at the pie at Sean's feet, but the young boy paid no mind to that as he took off the old brown leather collar it wore.

"It's all tattered and it's getting too small for him." He snatched away the pie before the husky could take a bite out of it. "I told you you're getting too fat, Dante."

It whined as it lowered its ears.

Sean sighed at the dog and leaned down one last time to pet it on its head. "Oh well. Anyways, I'll be going!"

Dante waited until the young boy was out of the house. He frowned as he spoke, staring at the happy husky as it ran over to Alice. "This is why you should have given him another name."

Alice pouted a little as she tried to fasten the collar around the dog's neck. "It was an honest mistake..."

The raven haired man saw her struggling with the collar. It was obviously still too small to go around the husky's neck. "Cut his hair or something. Maybe then it'll fit."

As if he understood what Dante suggested, the dog barked at the man in protest. Alice protectively held the husky and kissed it on top of its fluffy head. "Dante was just kidding, don't worry."

Dante let out a low, frustrated sigh. "I'm telling you. It's not fitting him because he's too hairy. He looks like a walking furball."

Alice shot him a glare and didn't say anything. After a few more minutes of trying and nearly choking the poor dog, Alice sighed and set the collar down on the table. "It doesn't fit."

"No...really?" Dante sarcastically muttered, earning another glare from the warrior.

"Such a waste too. I guess Sean will need to make another one." Alice said.

A period of silence came over them as they uneasily shot glances over at each other from time to time. Eventually, Alice broke it by clearing her throat and asking, "di-did you like the pie?"

"It was a little too sweet..."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

She fiddled with her fingers, hesitant about saying what she wanted to say. "Uhm...well, eating sweet things can make you feel better." Alice glanced up at him and saw that he had his head turned away.

"Why were you crying earlier?" Alice asked softly, wondering if she should be touching upon this subject.

"It was nothing. Forget about it," Dante said briefly. Immediately, he stood up from his chair and took both of their dirty plates. He wordlessly brought them over to the sink in the kitchen and set them down. Much to his displeasure, Alice followed him.

"I thought you weren't going to hide anything from me."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are-"

"Just stop prying. Some things are personal." Dante silently thanked her for the meal and brushed past her, but before he could reach the door, he felt a light tug on his shirt.

In a small, sullen voice, Alice whispered, "I don't want you to be sad."

Dante placed his hand on the doorknob and closed his eyes painfully. "I'm not-"

"You are."

He took his hand off the doorknob and let it fall to his side. "What do you want from me?"

"I just want you to tell me the truth. You promised..."

Dante turned around to face her. "You really..." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He tried not to look at her, but he did anyways and he saw her big blue eyes staring back at him in concern. Dante looked away and grumbled, "don't look at me like that..."

"Eh?"

"...Why do you care about me so much?"

"What kind of question is that?" Alice asked in alarm. She stepped towards him and gently reached up to cradle his face. "I love you," she whispered, blushing softly. "I thought I made it obvious enough, stupid."

Dante held her hand gently and chuckled softly at her childish name-calling. "Is that the only reason?"

"Of course-_mm_!" Alice, caught off-guard by his kiss, stiffened up, but relaxed as he deepened it.

She whimpered softly when he pulled her in closer, so that she was pressed up right against his body. Alice felt his hand reach up to tangle his fingers in her long blue locks. "Dante-" She barely had time to breath as he captured her lips again.

When they finally pulled away, both of them panted heavily.

Dante held the back of her neck and whispered lowly, "I trust you. Don't forget it."

"Huh...?"

He gently stroked her pink cheek with the back of his hand. Alice could feel the rough, calloused skin on his knuckles brush up against her soft skin, tickling her just slightly.

Dante leaned down and kissed her hotly again, groaning softly as he coaxed her mouth open with his tongue.

Alice knew that something must have happened between him and Lia. She couldn't think of anything else that could possibly upset him until the point of crying.

She gently pulled herself away from him and asked, "did something happen with you and Lia?"

The archer didn't say anything. Instead he swept away Alice's hair and dotted kissed on her exposed neck.

"Something_ did_ happen, didn't it?" Again, no response. "Dante, you should sort this out-"

"Shut up."

Alice whined and tried to distance herself away from him when he kissed her, more roughly than before. However, with his arms wrapped around her body, that was near impossible.

As soon as he pulled away, Dante brought her up into his arms and carried her through the small house. All the while, Alice argued, telling him to put her down.

"Dante!" she exclaimed as he brought her into her bedroom. Alice gasped when she was dumped onto the bed.

Her whole body froze and her breath hitched in her throat when Dante pinned down her wrists on either side of her head. In the darkness of the room, his red eyes seemed menacing and quite scary.

"Dante...?"

"Don't mention her anymore. She's in the past."

"But...she's your mother..."

"What about you, huh?" he said, raising his voice. "You didn't even cry for your own mom and she's dead!"

"That's different! She was a terrible mother to me!"

"And Lia's the same."

"She had the best intentions-"

"She abandoned me and tried to hide the fact that I had a family."

Alice winced when he tightened his grip around her thin wrists. "Dante...let me go. You're hurting me-!"

"If you care about me, then you'll stay."

Before Alice could ask what he meant, she felt his lips crash down into hers. She tried to wiggle herself free, but it was no use. He had an iron grip around her arms and there was no signs of him letting her go.

"Dante-!" Alice let out a whimper when he clapped his hand over her mouth, silencing her.

He leaned down more, pressing his body down on hers, pinning her underneath him. Dante then roughly turned her head and went down to her neck.

"_Mmph!"_ Alice let out a soft, muffled cry when she felt him bite down on her flesh. She could feel him lick up the small amount of blood he drew from biting her. Her body trembled at the sensation of his soft tongue running across her wound.

Dante eventually took his hand off of her mouth and unzipped his dark blue top. He let it fall to the floor and brought down both hands to her peach colored blouse. Without a second thought, he ripped it, tearing off the buttons.

The blue haired girl gasped when she felt him removed her chest bindings with his teeth. Her breath hitched in her throat, knowing that he may indeed go all the way.

She was scared, especially with how roughly he was treating her, but she didn't retaliate at all.

As soon as her bindings were off, Alice trembled underneath him, avoiding his eyes as tears built up in her own. Finally, she felt him ease off of her.

"Why aren't you stopping me?" he asked. Dante got off of her and clenched his fists. Much to his chagrin, Alice didn't bother to fight him back, even when it was obvious that she was scared.

He saw her clumsily covering her chest with her loosened bindings as she sat up, sniffling.

"You were sad. I thought...if I let you, you'd feel better."

Dante let out a remorseful sigh and leaned down to pick up the white sheets on her bed. He gently fanned them out and draped the cloth over her shoulders, making her decent. He then knelt down in front of her, placing his hands on her pale knees.

"You don't need to care about me that much...I...didn't really mean what I said earlier." Gently, he cradled her face and wiped away the loose tears. "You could have fought me off."

Alice squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head defiantly. "I don't want to leave you."

"What if I end up hurting you?" he whispered, a small hint of fear in his voice as he stroked her soft blue hair.

"You won't. I know you won't." Alice smiled down at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, not really caring as her chest bindings fell down to her lap. She leaned down and kissed him deeply.

Her hands trailed down as they continued their kiss. She touched and felt the scarred flesh on his back, where he had been branded by Krylin.

He groaned softly into her mouth when she traced the markings with her index finger.

Alice pulled away from him and asked quietly, "sorry, does it hurt?"

"No..." he breathed out. "It just...stings a little, but it's fine."

She continued to touch the scars on his back. Some parts felt soft to the touch, but most of it felt hard and rough. Alice lowered her eyes somberly, avoiding his eyes.

Dante quickly picked up on this and whispered, "you didn't do this."

Alice felt him raised her head by her chin. She felt her heart skip a beat when she found herself staring directly into his warm red eyes. Her fingers traced the branding mark on his back. "You've been hurt so much..."

"And none of it was your fault. So stop feeling guilty-" Dante felt her pull him in close so that his head was up against her chest.

She blushed and stuttered, but tried to keep her composure to a certain extent. "I want to make you feel better."

"What-?"

"You don't like being alone, right?"

Dante widened his eyes and muttered, "what are you talking about?"

"Even though you push people away, you really want them to be with you. That's why you hate Lia, right?" Alice gently tightened her hold around him, burying her face in his dark hair. "She left you alone and she hurt you. You resent her for that and you push other people away because you don't want to get hurt anymore..."

Dante trembled slightly, which Alice noticed.

"You can push me away, Dante...but just know that I won't leave you."

He let out a dry chuckle as he slowly wrapped his arms around her bare body, hiding the fact that tears were starting to slip down his cheeks. Dante leaned in more, placing his ear flush against her chest. "...Thank you," he mumbled, almost inaudibly.

Alice smiled, holding him tightly and protectively in her arms. She could feel the dampness of tears on his cheeks, but she didn't comment or react to them.

"You're welcome," she whispered, placing a kiss on his head.

* * *

><p>The entire temple was eerily quiet as Xin made his way through its polished halls.<p>

He finally came up to a large set of double doors, encrusted in dull bronze designs. Gently he placed his hands on the door and let out a soft sigh before he pushed them open.

They squeaked loudly, the hinges on the verge of rusting apart.

Xin looked over the dozen or so long boxes that lined the dimly lit room. When he closed the doors behind him, they made a rather loud noise.

The room suddenly felt chilly as Xin walked past the single candle in the whole room. It's flames danced and its light flicked as the draft left behind by him met it.

His dark blue eyes scanned over the names on the dark brown boxes, or more specifically, coffins. They finally came to rest on a particular box that had the name "Julia Everard" carved into it.

Xin knelt down beside it and ran his gloved hand over the wooden top.

"Why did you stop...?" he asked in question, leaning down to rest his head against the coffin. Xin squeezed his eyes shut and ran his blunt nails against the wood, bothered by his thoughts and questions.

"Why did you stop looking for me? Was I the reason that you kept making those artificial humans?"

Xin raised his head and hooked his fingers underneath the cover of the coffin. He slowly opened it up and saw Julia's body in there, looking as though she was simply in a deep slumber.

Lovingly, he took her into his arms and held her.

"I only found out about everything from the archives." Xin stroked the doctor's long hair gently. "I didn't think it was true, but I guess a few more trips in there confirmed it," he chuckled dryly.

Xin lowered his eyes sadly and whispered, "I don't know why you wanted to create people like Ivan and Isabelle...I couldn't find that in the archives, but I did find something else."

He reached around into the small leather pouch strapped to his waist and pulled out a small folded up piece of paper.

"It was my birth record..." Xin slipped the piece of paper underneath the folds of her black dress. "I'm Dante's half-brother, aren't I?" He laughed softly, as if amused. "It was kind of hard to ignore the last name besides my name when there was a large blot of ink next to it."

The crusader held Julia's body tightly as he whispered, "Dante's father, Alec, was your first love...wasn't he? And Alice...she was your second child...my half younger sister."

Xin smiled sullenly as he placed her back down into the coffin. "No wonder I could never fall in love with her." He reached over and slowly shut the lid.

"...But, I just wish you didn't give up so quickly on me, mom."

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Sean blinked at the unnerving sight in front of him.

Beside Meg's bed, Grendel shook his head and allowed for the clerics to drape the white sheet over her face. All the while, her parents wept as they witnessed their daughter's passing.

The old magician walked out of the room, but as he passed Sean, he placed a wrinkled hand on his shoulder and muttered, "I'm so sorry about your friend, young man."

Sean trembled as Grendel left the room along with the small group of clerics.

It couldn't be...it can't be...

He dropped the neatly wrapped up pie carelessly on the ground as he slowly walked up to Meg's bedside. Sean honestly didn't know what to think or how to act as he stood there looking over her covered body.

"They said that there was nothing they could do. None of them has encountered something like this before!" Meg's mother cried, terribly stricken by grief.

"There, there..." her father said, patting her on the shoulder. He looked up at Sean, his eyelids drooping sadly over his blue eyes. "I know you were so close to her, Sean. I thank you for taking care of her whenever you two went out."

The blue haired boy finally felt the stinging sensation of tears flooding his eyes as he nodded.

"Meg..." he whispered harshly as he fell to his knees beside her bed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_I know I just threw a crapton of stuff at you guys, but some of the main stuff is..._

_Xin is Dante's half- younger brother and he's Alice's half- older brother. I did check and yes, Dante and Alice's relationship is not considered incest because they share a half-brother. They aren't related by blood at all, so not incest :p _

_And there was never any real incest between Xin and Alice either. Xin never liked Alice in a romantic way. Since the beginning he acted liker her caretaker and of course, like an older brother. He only acted as if he loved her in the beginning part of Fragments because Alice was confused over whether or not she really liked Dante or not. Xin just wanted to show her that she belongs with Dante ~_

_Even with this explanation, I'm pretty sure I'll get some hater comments about this being borderline incest or whatever moral grounds I've trampled over. I don't care. Go shove a stick up your ass :p _

_Also, to clarify, Ivan didn't die in the last chapter. He just threw the grenade to make an escape. I wouldn't kill him off that easily. _

_Now, it's been mentioned on several occasions...the "Kyudo" lineage. What exactly does being a "Kyudo" mean? ~ _

_That and more will be further explained in the upcoming chapters! _

_As always, you guys are just awesome with your reviews. Old reviewers make me happy and seeing new reviewers pop up also make me happy :) _

_So keep reviewing ~ ! It's really uplifting to see all of you guys enjoy this story as much as I do! _


	25. Lone Assassin

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 25 - Lone Assassin**

The crisp, but chilly early morning air bit at the skin on her cheeks, turning them a bright pink. Even with all of her heavy battle armor on, Alice shivered, partly because it was cold and also because she was nervous.

"Got enough sleep last night?" Ada asked, coming up from behind her.

Alice turned to face her best friend and shook her head a little. She thought it would be best to not tell Ada that she had spent a majority of the night with Dante.

"Eh, same." The assassin shrugged nonchalantly and smiled at her. "Too excited for this battle, you know? Spent the whole night just sharpening up my steelies."

The blue haired warrior giggled, imagining Ada sitting on her bed and going over the dozens of weapons she was going to carry all laid out on her bed. "Hopefully all my training paid off."

"Mm, I'm sure it has." Ada smiled confidently and patted his friend on her back, soundly hitting the hard steel plated armor. "But, Athena said it shouldn't be too intense. She even said one platoon might be enough to conquer Ellinea. Dante said his platoon is the first one to begin the siege, right?"

"Yeah."

"He'll be fine. He's a great platoon leader," the black haired woman reassured her.

Alice nodded, smiling broadly. "I know."

As they stood there on the loading dock, a loud foghorn sounded, signalling the departure of the first ship carrying soldiers. The engines whirred and a large cloud of white steam came out from the exhaust pipes.

The spearman looked up at the deck and caught sight of Dante, even though it was still dark out.

He simply smiled at her and leaned forward. At the moment he opened his mouth to say something to her, the foghorn blew again, drowning his voice out. However, Alice knew what he said by the movement of his lips.

_"Don't worry about me." _

She pursed her lips in embarrassment and shouted back at him as loud as she could, gathering attention from some of the other soldiers near her.

"Stupid Dante! Do I look worried!?"

Judging by the way he laughed at her, Alice knew that she must have been showing clear signs of worry on her face.

All she did was glare at him until the ship finally went airborne and left the dock. Her blue eyes followed it until she could see it no more.

"I should go now," Ada said, placing her hand on Alice's shoulder. "Cedric's platoon is next. I have to make sure he doesn't screw anything up," she said as she let out an exasperated sigh.

Alice laughed. "Okay then." The two girls embraced each other before parting.

"Good luck."

"You too."

Alice saw her disappear into the crowd. A little sigh left her as she looked up into the sky, now starting to light up with just a little bit of sunlight, but it was still shrouded by a dense layer of fog.

Even though she knew that this invasion was nothing too intense, she still felt uneasy.

Clasping her hands in front of her, Alice brought them up to her lips and gently kissed her plated knuckles.

"Please be safe everyone."

* * *

><p>"So...they're arriving, are they?"<p>

Krylin chuckled in amusement as she watched the first ship of Aegis soldiers make landfall near Ellinia. Her lips curled up into a malicious grin when she saw Dante get off the ship as well, shouting orders to his platoon.

"It seems like you made a full recovery, dear boy." Her long purple nails dragged across her dark purple lips. Krylin sneered at her viewing cloud and with a wave of her hand, it disappeared.

"Coming to me was a grave mistake. Your body will be mine for the taking very soon."

* * *

><p>It was already nightfall.<p>

Alice stood there on the deck of the ship, looking out at the beautiful starry night sky glimmering brightly above a sea of light blue clouds.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

She turned around and saw Xin coming up beside her. Alice turned back to the horizon and muttered, "it's relaxing to look at."

"Hmm." Xin leaned forward to place his elbows down on the wooden guardrail. He turned his head over to Alice again and smiled. "Are you scared?...Or worried?" His head tilted a little in curiosity. "Maybe you're worried about Dante?"

Alice let her eyes fall down. "I know he said to not worry...but I can't help it. I don't want things to turn out the way they did three years ago."

"It won't."

"Huh?" She was slightly startled by his confident response.

Xin smiled handsomely and leaned his head down against his arms. "I'll make sure to protect both of you."

Alice blushed and exclaimed. "Th-That's too much! You don't need to take on that kind of responsibility!"

The crusader laughed at her response. "I should though." He stood up straight and rubbed the top of her head. "You're my little sister."

"But...we're not really related..."

Xin chuckled before leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. "That's true, but I think of you that way."

Alice reached up to touch the area that he kissed. She grumbled in an embarrassed manner. "Thank you."

* * *

><p>The husky whined as it held the black collar Sean had made for it, in its mouth. It set it down beside the boy's feet and looked up at him with droopy ears.<p>

"Ah..." Sean muttered, smiling sadly as he picked up the collar from the ground. "So it doesn't fit you, huh?" He laughed a little and commented, "I'm really horrible at these things, you know? I had to ask Meg for help because she's better at sewing than me." Sean played with the leather collar in his hand before he quickly wiped up his tears.

He sniffled as the husky nuzzled his leg.

"I'm sorry, boy. You really liked her too, didn't you?"

The black and white dog lowered its head and whined. However, after a long period of silence, its ears perked up again and its head shot up, alert and focused.

"Eh? Dante?"

It barked and ran over to the door. With its paws it clawed at the door urgently.

"What's wrong with you?" Sean asked, setting the collar down and going over to the door. "Is someone outside?" The corner of his mouth turned in a confused manner before he cautiously opened up the door.

The husky immediately battled its way around Sean's leg and the door, jumping out onto the streets of Orbis.

"Dante!" Sean cried out, seeing the husky run off haphazardly. "Dante! Come back!" He chased after it in the darkness of the night.

With more than half of the citizens of Orbis gone to fight, the streets were deserted and the street lamps weren't lit. The only thing that Sean could make out were the white spots of fur Dante had as it ran in front of him.

Finally, the husky came to a stop, but it's body was rigid and almost ready to attack as it barked ferociously at what was in front of him.

"Jeez, Dante...what has gotten into you-?"

Sean raised his head to see what Dante was barking at and he widened his eyes.

"C-Ciel?"

The blond elf stared back at him impassively as she held Meg, slung over her shoulder. "Sean," she simply stated in her calm voice.

Sean saw Meg's lifeless body dangling over Ciel's shoulder. "Where are you taking her?" he asked, scared over what was about to happen.

"That's none of your concern."

"She...she needs to stay here!" Sean asserted as firm as he could.

"I don't want to attack you Sean, but if you get in my way..." Ciel raised her red bow up, aiming it at him.

The warrior froze in his tracks at the sight of a golden arrow forming in her hands. Was she being serious? Sean took a cautious step back. "C-Ciel, why-?"

Before he could finish his question, Sean had to get out of the way to dodge the arrow that Ciel had shot at him. Immediately afterwards, he heard a thundering explosion behind him as the arrow exploded.

His breath quickened as he shouted, "Ciel! Why are you doing this!?"

The elf lowered her green eyes and muttered dangerously, "it is the will of the World Tree. As it's protector, I need to do what needs to be done. Don't get in my way again unless you have a death wish."

Despite her threat, Sean stood his ground. "I won't let you take Meg away! Even if I have to fight you!"

Ciel narrowed her minty green eyes and raised her Metus bow at him again. "So, you want to die then." A golden arrow materialized in her hands.

Sean shuddered in fear when he saw her stringing it onto her bow. He was unarmed and he had no way of defending himself.

Just as Ciel released the arrow, Sean brought his arms up, covering his head instinctively.

"Magic Guard!"

Sean slowly and cautiously opened up his eyes. In front of him was a clear film of mana, protecting him from Ciel's attack. He turned around at the sound of his husky barking and saw Froid walking up to him.

"M-Mister Hermes!" he exclaimed.

"You shouldn't be walking around without a weapon, Sean. We're at war after all, even if you're in Orbis," he said in a tone a father would say to his son.

"Oh...I'm sorry..."

Froid chuckled lightly and turned his attention over to Ciel. Immediately his warm, cheerful demeanor faded away and was replaced by a glare. "You have another chance to make things right. But if you choose to retaliate, I won't go easy on you just because you're a student at the Academy."

Ciel lowered her bow, but protectively wrapped her arm around Meg's lifeless body.

"Let Meg go!" Sean shouted.

The ice mage pointed his staff at the elf. "Were you working for Krylin all this time?"

"I don't work for Krylin."

With lightning speed, Ciel shot out a quick arrow. Just as fast, Froid created a mana barrier.

When the arrow made contact with the shield, it exploded. Sean squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears at the loud noise. Smoke and debris swirled around them.

Sean opened his eyes when he heard Dante barking. He got out from behind Froid and ran up to where Ciel once stood. When the smoke cleared up completely, he frantically looked around, only to see that the elf was gone.

"Meg!" he shouted, even though he knew that she couldn't answer back to him.

"Sean," Froid stated, walking up to the young boy, "are you able to fight?"

"Eh? Why-?"

"You'll get killed if you continue to act timidly like this."

Sean bowed his head, in embarrassment. He shook his head and shouted back, "I won't! I-"

"Stop shaking." Froid sternly ordered, seeing Sean's small hands trembling in fear. "You want to save her don't you? Even if she isn't alive to see it, I'm sure she would have liked it."

The blue haired warrior widened his eyes and clutched at his shaking fist, hoping that they'll stop. "I will. I'll save Meg." He raised his head to face Froid triumphantly. "I'll save Meg!" he shout confidently, even though his hands continued to shake.

Despite the contrasting actions he was seeing, Froid closed his eyes and chuckled. "Go get your weapon. I'll prepare a boat to Victoria Island. I have no doubts that Ciel is trying to revive the World Tree hidden there."

* * *

><p>"We believe that Ellinia's been conquered."<p>

"Good." Dante looked up at the night sky and saw the next two ships of Aegis soldiers arriving at the port. "Just in time it looks like. Now we'll need to prepare for Henesys. No doubt that a majority of Krylin's troops are based there. She knows that we need to get Henesys back at all costs. Make sure the rest of the soldiers are ready to go forward. We leave as soon as the rest of the troops make landfall."

"Yes, sir!"

The two ships pulled up into the port gently and began letting out its soldiers. As Dante turned back to look into the dim darkness of the Ellinia forest, he saw a figure in the corner of his eye.

He turned to look at it and furrowed his brow when he saw what appeared to be a silhouette of a man.

Thinking that it was an enemy, Dante stepped forward and shouted, "hey! Come out from there! Reveal yourself!"

At this, he saw the figure turn his head and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared. Coupled with the darkness of the forest as well as the hood the man wore, Dante couldn't make out his face, but he feared that it was a spy for Krylin.

"Damn it," he whispered under his breath, thinking that the man could have just overheard what he said to the soldier earlier.

"Dante!" a familiar voice called out.

The archer frowned as soon as he felt Cedric run up and hug him tightly from behind. "Cedric..." he growled threateningly.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay! Although, I never doubted your abilities for a second!"

"Stop it, you're embarrassing me!"

Cedric pouted and gave Dante one last squeeze before letting go. "Fine."

Dante dusted himself off and grumbled, "idiot...your whole platoon's watching you. Act more like a platoon leader."

"Don't worry, they already lost respect for him anyways," Ada chimed in, walking up to the two men. She sighed in disappointment when she saw the cheeky grin Cedric sported. "Anyways...we're the ones leading the attack on Henesys. Which means," Ada glared at Cedric and took hold of the bandit's arm in a vicegrip.

"Ow! Ada! You're hurting me!" Cedric cried out as he was helplessly dragged along.

"Deal with it! You need to lead your troops! If I was the platoon leader, I would be doing a much better job right now!"

Dante rolled his eyes at the two as they walked away. He could never understand how such a dysfunctional pair could work so well together as platoon leader and martyr.

Amidst the flood of soldiers now filling the small, quiet town of Ellinia, Dante caught sight of Minna. They locked eyes for a minute and Minna blushed before fiddling with her hair. She eventually walked up to him hesitantly.

"Uhm..." she shyly mumbled. "I-I'm sorry, Dante. About what I said earlier..."

"It's nothing."

"It is something!" she exclaimed adamantly. "I know you were just trying to do your job." Minna held her arm and looked away as she mumbled, "I don't know why Ivan decided to run away, but I know he did it with good intentions."

"Minna-"

"Please believe me. Whatever Ivan did or said to you, he never meant to harm you. And I know that he didn't kill Dr. Everard either."

Dante stared at her, taken slightly aback by the confidence of her statement, even though she wasn't there when Ivan ran away. "Do you trust him that much?"

"It's not trust. I just know him well enough." Minna smiled at the archer. "That's why I know Ivan did everything with the best of intentions."

An alarm sounded and the two of them looked over towards the ships.

"It looks like the second part of the invasion is starting. I'm sure you're busy with your platoon so, I'll get going now!" Minna cheerfully took his hand and said, "good luck, Dante."

Before he could say anything to her, she let go of his hand and quickly disappeared into the crowd of Aegis soldiers.

"Dante!"

He heard Alice's voice and sure enough, when he turned his head he saw her running up to him.

She looked happy as she caught her breath. "You're okay!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, smiling at how bashful she sounded. "Didn't I tell you not to worry?"

Alice blushed as she stammered back, "we-well! You did, but it's still dangerous!"

As she spoke animatedly, trying to defend herself, Dante noticed Xin walking up to them. Although he knew that there was nothing between him and Alice, Dante couldn't help, but feel a bit competitive whenever he was around the crusader.

"Alice."

The blue haired girl turned around. "Oh, Xin!"

He smiled warmly at her before he suggested, "you should get back to Lia, right? I'm sure she needs her martyr's help in organizing her platoon."

"Ah...right," Alice nervously glanced at Dante, wondering if he was affected by the mention of Lia's name. It seemed as though he had kept his composure, acting like it didn't bother him. "I should get going then!" Alice laughed sheepishly.

However, just as she turned to leave, there was sudden heaviness in the air.

It seemed as though everyone felt it, reacting accordingly to the building pressure. The whole of Ellinia port, shook and the support beams on the dock groaned.

_"Did you foolish Aegis think that this was going to be easy? Think again." _

Both Alice and Dante immediately recognized the chilling voice to be Krylin's.

The young woman turned around to look at Dante, only to spot a dark circle beginning to form beneath his feet.

"Dante! Watch out!"

It happened all too quickly, even before he could react. As soon as Dante looked down to see the dark ring, the circle opened up beneath him and swallowed him up whole.

A few feet away, Lia could hear Alice crying out Dante's name in distress. She ran in the direction of the spearman's voice.

"What happened?" she asked hurriedly.

"Dante! He's gone!" Alice shouted in disbelief, down on all fours and patting the ground where he once stood. "It's impossible! How-?"

"It must be Krylin. No doubt about it," Xin commented. "It's not a coincidence that he disappears as soon as we hear Krylin's voice."

"Then...did she take him to her castle?"

"Most likely-"

The Aegis soldiers suddenly started to shout and clamor as containers of smoke began to be tossed into the shipyard. Smoke quickly blanketed the place, preventing Alice from seeing anything that was in front of her.

"Lia! Xin!" she shouted out, starting to walk around and wander.

Around her, she could hear the sounds of soldiers dying and being killed. So this was an ambush?

Alice coughed as the smoke thickened. She tried to breath, but her lungs immediately filled up with smoke. It burned her throat and stung her eyes, but she knew that she had to be alert as possible.

Just as she reached back to grab her polearm, she felt an arm wrap around her waist and a hand clasp itself over her nose and mouth, not so much that she couldn't breath.

Thinking that it was the enemy, Alice screamed and tried to fight him off.

"Shh," a man's voice hushed her, "I'm not going to hurt you. Please follow me."

Not that she had much choice in the matter, Alice then felt her grab her wrist and run. She couldn't see anything in front of her because of the smoke. All she saw was the vague outline of the man's hand wrapped around her wrist.

The burning smoke soon disappeared and Alice looked back to see the thick cloud still residing over the port area. Her eyes averted down to the ground where she saw the bodies of several slain Krylin assassins. She then looked up to see the man that had led her out of the deadly ambush.

He was wearing a tattered brown cape, so she couldn't see anymore of his features from behind.

After several minutes of running, Alice dragged her feet, finding it hard to run any further with all of her heavy armor on. Luckily for her, the man let go of her wrist and stopped running.

Panting and trying to catch her breath, Alice looked at the man who "saved" her, wondering who he was.

"Uhm..."

Her turned to face her and immediately she froze up at his fierce gaze.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked, his gray eyes looking over her body.

"N-No, just a little tired..."

"Here." He fished around in the brown bag that was hanging over his shoulder and pulled out several brown pills. "They're warrior pills." He saw Alice's hesitance in taking them, so without a word, he grabbed her hand and slapped them onto her palm.

"But-"

"There's no time to explain. You want to save Dante, don't you?"

Alice widened her eyes and asked suspiciously, "how...how do you know Dante? Are you with the Aegis...?" She trailed off when she saw the old Aegis symbol on his hand. Immediately she wondered if he was a deserter after the last battle three years ago.

"I didn't desert the Aegis, if that's what you were wondering."

"Ah...s-sorry," she mumbled, finding it weird that she was having such a casual conversation with a stranger she had just met, much less know his name. "But, you didn't answer my question. How do you know Dante?"

The older man quirked an eyebrow up slightly and told her, "you're a lot more stubborn than you look."

Alice crossed her arms over her chest, catching herself before she let out an involuntary retort. Usually it was Dante that would tell her that she was stubborn...

The more she stared at him, the more he looked familiar...Where did she see him before?

"You're wasting time. You need to save Dante."

"Eh? But...why me? I'm not exactly the strongest one-"

"Because if you don't make the contract before Krylin does, we're done for."

Alice blinked in utter confusion. "C-Contract? What do you mean?"

The middle-aged assassin crossed his slim arms over his well-built chest. "You really don't know anything, do you?"

"I-" Alice gasped softly when he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You hold the power of darkness and the master of the Beholder spirit." He said slowly, letting it sink into Alice's head first before continuing. "Dante is your amplifier. You must make the contract and become his master before Krylin does, or else its all over for us."

"Dante? He's...an amplifier? For what?" Alice trembled, starting to feel the pressure of the duty that was being assigned to her.

"He can amplify your dark magic and tame the Beholder spirit within you. That's the purpose of the Kyudo line. It's what he's been assigned to do since he was born."

"But...what if Krylin makes a contract with him first?"

The man looked away and sighed. "Then we can forget about the life we once knew. Krylin will submerge the world in darkness and no one will be able to stop her. It's what Xeros tried to do the past."

"Uh..." Alice shook at the reality of the situation she was suddenly pushed into. Feeling nauseous, Alice knelt down and held her hand over her mouth. After a while, she whispered out faintly, "how...how do I know you're not lying? This-this can't be _real_."

"It is real." He knelt down to face her eye-to-eye. His shaggy black hair obscured his steel gray eyes, but Alice saw them gazing at her intensely. "Even if it's not for the sake of the Aegis, but for the sake of Dante, you need to make the contract with him. The role of the amplifier is to make your dark magic stronger, but at a cost."

"What...cost?"

"Being an amplifier means putting yourself through excruciating pain in order to provide their master strength. IF Krylin makes the contract with Dante, he won't make it out alive...and..." The man's voice suddenly got softer and a slight desperation filled his voice. "I know you would never harm Dante like that. So, I'm asking you..."

Alice felt him take her gloved hands in his. She saw him lean forward and whisper in her ear. Her eyes slowly widened at the next few words she heard from him.

"...please save my son. He doesn't deserve being put through all this because of me."

* * *

><p>Dante grunted as he pulled and tugged at the chains holding his arms above his head. He felt the cuffs dig into his wrists, but it didn't matter, not if it meant that he could escape this god forbidden place...<p>

"There's no use in escaping, Dante."

He snapped his head up and glared daggers at the purple haired mage walking up to him.

"Even if you escape, you'll never get off Victoria Island and no matter what, as long as you stay here, I can always find you."

Krylin giggled in delight when she saw him trying to attack her.

"Nothing you do will help you. Look at the ambush I've orchestrated as soon as you disappeared." Krylin waved her hand over the air and a purple haze formed, showing a viewing glass.

Dante saw the thick smoke cover in Ellinea's port and the dozens of Aegis soldiers getting massacred by Krylin's assassins.

"You have me! Just let them go!"

"Oh, how brave of you to act like a martyr, Dante! But, you see...I need to get rid of all those pests that might come to rescue you, including your precious little Alice."

Dante stared, horrified at the scene in front of him. "Alice...she's-"

"Yes! She's there! Perhaps killed already? Well...you never know, she's as weak as they come-"

The raven haired man growled and tried to attack her. He thrashed against his binds, but it was all futile. Krylin simply laughed in amusement at his attempt.

"Hm, there's that fiery temper of yours again."

Dante glared at her as he panted heavily. "You can forget it if you think you'll ever get my body-!" His eyes closed and his body suddenly went limp as soon as Krylin waved her hand over his head.

"So noisy," she muttered, cupping his chin. She tilted his head up, inspecting his unconscious form. "The soul transfer mustn't fail this time..." Krylin brought her other hand up to look at it.

Her skin was crumbling and her current body was becoming a sickly thin rapidly.

"I don't have much time left..."

* * *

><p><em>"I cannot go with you. There is something else I must take care of first. I know I'm asking a lot from you, but please...save my son. I'm begging you."<em>

Alice breathed through her mouth as she ran as fast as she could through the gnarled forests of Sleepywood. Her heart was racing and her palms were sweaty.

"Get a grip, Alice...you can do this," she whispered, trying to reassure herself.

Her hold on her polearm tightened when she saw Krylin's castle looming off in the distance. Training her blue eyes back on the path in front of her, she continued to run, only to find something wasn't quite what she expected.

She stopped abruptly and panted lightly. Something was definitely wrong...

"Where are all the soldiers?" she wondered to herself.

Indeed, despite the fact that she was in the heart of Sleopywood now, she hasn't seen one of Krylin's soldiers.

Alice stood there in the quiet forest, wondering this. At the same time, she was trying to quell the storm of emotions within her. She had various thoughts racing through her head, only fueled by the anxiety and nervousness that she carried.

She stabbed her Eviscerator into the soft, mossy ground and fell to her knees, leaning against her weapon heavily.

"How am I supposed to...?" she whispered half-heartedly, resting her forehead up against the cool metal handle.

Alice raised her head to look at the dark tip of one of the towers in Krylin's castle. "Dante..." she said quietly, bowing her head again.

Her hands suddenly gripped themselves tightly around her polearm and she narrowed her blue eyes in determination.

_"No..." _she thought to herself, _"I promised to save you Dante. I can't be having second thoughts now." _

Alice let out a sigh as she steadied her trembling hands. She was wasting time thinking about this matter.

Just as she stood up straight, preparing to carry on, she felt something wrap itself around her ankle. In a matter of seconds, before she could look down, Alice felt a lurching feeling in her stomach as if she was falling. All she saw in front of her was a pitch black abyss.

As quickly as she had been pulled down into the ground, she found herself falling down into a sort of underground chamber.

"Ah!" she exclaimed as she roughly landed on tumbled over trying to land on her feet. Her steel armor noisily contacted the ground.

"Not that graceful on your feet, huh?"

Alice whipped around at the sound of the familiar female voice.

Mary smirked, holding her Reverse Bellocce weapon in her hands.

The spearman flinched when the heavy weapon swung down and created a large indent in the ground below it.

"What's the matter? Scared?" Mary asked mockingly. She leaned up against the huge hammer casually as she spoke to Alice once more. "If you look like that you'll never be able to save him, you know."

Alice looked over into the direction where Mary waved her hand and she widened her crystal blue eyes when she saw Dante, unconscious and chained to the wall.

"Dante-!"

"Don't worry, he won't be able to hear you."

"Eh?" Alice turned around just as she saw Mary leaping towards her, her Bellocce in her hands, poised for attack.

There was a thundering crash that echoed throughout the chamber. The area where the two women were, was covered in a thick cloud of dust.

Mary smiled deviously when she saw that Alice had dodged her surprise attack. She stared at the blue haired girl, tightly holding her polearm and trembling just a few feet away.

"So, you managed to dodge that." Mary lifted up the heavy weapon with ease and swung it over in a large arc before resting it on her armor plated shoulder. She giggled teasingly when she saw the scared look in Alice's eyes. "You're free to leave, you know."

"H-Huh?"

"You'll never be able to defeat me if you're that scared. What is it that you're scared of? Are you scared of dying? Of getting hurt? Maybe you're scared of pain?"

"No..."

"Or are you scared you'll fail and lose him?"

Alice faltered and chose not to say anything else, for fear her voice might fail her. Her eyes found their way to Mary's chest and she saw the red butterfly necklace that Dante had bought.

Mary noticed this and smiled as she gently fondled the necklace in between her fingers. "I never expected you two to make up so quickly. I thought he hurt you enough. It's kind of stupid to chase after a guy that has no interest in you, right?"

"No! Dante and I...he told me everything!"

"Did he now?" Mary held a hand over her mouth to laugh softly. "Did he tell you how good it felt to kiss me?"

Alice tightened her grip on her polearm dangerously.

"Did he tell you how many times he told me he loves me? He's a great kisser, you know?" Mary egged the spearman on more and more, seeing her irritation skyrocket. "Even if he's the serious type, he really knows how to make a girl feel good in bed-"

Hearing enough, Alice let out an angered yell as she charged forward. She brought down her Eviscerator on Mary, but the paladin blocked it easily with her weapon.

"Oh...did I strike a nerve?" Mary asked, smirking. "It's not my fault Dante chose me over you."

"Shut up!" Alice tried to kick Mary away, but she simply grabbed a hold of the spearman's ankle.

"We're on different levels...you and I."

Alice winced and then screamed when Mary sharply twisted her foot. She was tossed back easily, like a ragdoll. Alice slid on the ground, but before she could do anything, she was pulled back up by the collar of her chest plate.

"You can't even dream to defeat me. What use are you...?" Mary shoved her back and then quickly swung her hammer at Alice.

The violent blow shattered part of Alice's armor as she took the blow full-on.

Alice cried out in pain as she flew several feet away before skidding on the ground. The pain was immeasurable, shooting up and down her body constantly. Her bones literally felt shattered inside of her body and she could easily say that it was the worst pain she had ever felt in her life.

"I don't even know what Dante sees in you."

Alice felt Mary kick her roughly in the stomach, where her armor had shattered, adding to the pain already in her body.

Weakly, she reached out towards her polearm, lying just a few inches away from her.

"Do you know what you are? A hindrance." Mary kicked the spearman across the face, causing her to roll over.

Alice whimpered and trembled at the arching pain all over her body. She felt blood run out from her nose and the foot that Mary had twisted became so numb that she couldn't feel it anymore.

"Useless," Mary spat out, bending down to grab a fistful of Alice's hair.

The spearman let out a frightened whimper as Mary brought her up to eye level.

"You couldn't even land a hit on me. While look at you..." Mary scoffed, smirking in her face. She wiped the blood from Alice's nose and smeared it over her cheek. "Pathetic...if only Dante could see you now...I wonder what he'd think to see you...hardly able to defend yourself."

Alice shivered in fear when she felt Mary run her thumb over her eyelid.

"You're weak...that's why you let Dante die. That's why all of these things are happening to him."

The paladin roughly threw down Alice to the ground. She slammed her foot down on her stomach and dug the heel of her boots into the spearman. Alice cried out again, tears beading at her eyes.

"Dante only fell into Krylin's hands because you couldn't properly defend him."

Mary stepped back from Alice and brought her Timeless weapon over her head. It glowed a bright yellow before it turned into hammer twice its size. "Heaven's Hammer," she whispered under her breath.

"...You're right..." Alice managed to faintly mutter. She felt her tears overflowing from her eyes as she took all of Mary's words to heart. "I only came this far...because of Dante." Her bruised up lip made it hard for her to talk properly.

_"What am I...?" _she thought to herself, closing her eyes just as she saw Mary swinging down her weapon. _"Even when I learned how to become a Dragon Knight...I still can't protect Dante. I'm useless..."_

Alice opened up her eyes one last time before she saw the bright light emitting from Mary's Heaven's Hammer.

_"I'm sorry Dante...I'm such a useless martyr." _

A surge of dark energy suddenly blocked Mary's attack just as she was about to land the hit on Alice.

"What?" Mary said incredulously. She applied more pressure on her hammer, forcing it to go down more, but it remained where it was.

The dark energy canceled out her attack and threw her back. Mary grit her teeth as she skidded across the ground on her feet.

"What the hell's going on!?" she screamed, confused as to what had gotten in her way of victory.

The waves of darkness fluctuated for a bit before coming to a rest. It grew smaller until it was the size of a human head. The energy looked like a floating ball of black fire.

Eventually, Mary saw a single, large eye appear on it. It seemed to completely ignore her as it aimlessly let its eyeball roam all around its surroundings.

It hovered over Alice's body and remained there until it let out a blood-curdling shriek.

Mary winced at the terrible sound as it flew directly into Alice's unconscious body. It was a scream that literally felt like it was rattling her head.

Alice laid there and suddenly let out a soft gasp. Her body twitched involuntarily by itself as dark flames rose from her chest. Her wounds began to heal over. Her fresh bruises disappeared and her twisted foot went back into place. Her shattered bones repaired themselves and the fatigue that had once plagued her body, left her.

The paladin watched as Alice slowly reopened her eyes.

"Impossible...how?"

The spearman blinked and sat up, confused at what had just happened. Her body felt lighter than ever.

"How!?" Mary screamed out in frustration. "You couldn't even move!"

Just as Alice turned to look at her, she saw a dark ball of flame come out from her chest. She immediately recognized it to be the same thing that she had seen a while back when she was fighting those assassins in the remains of L Forest.

Strange thing was, she didn't feel frightened about the dark energy anymore.

She stared at it and it stared back. Wordlessly, as if she was communicating with it telepathically, she closed her eyes and immediately the dark flame rushed into her.

It flew directly into her chest and disappeared completely.

"Hm, if you actually think that having that little fireball with you will raise your chances to defeat me, you're wrong-!" Mary widened her eyes in shock when she saw how fast Alice had already come up to her, polearm in hand and ready to swing.

Unable to block it in time, Mary took the direct hit and was flung back high up into the chamber. She impacted the ceiling hard, leaving a small crater before falling to the ground. Her body shook from the force of the impact as she fought to get up.

Mary grit her teeth as she propped herself up on her arm to look up.

"You little bitch!" she screamed as Alice stood there with her Eviscerator in hand.

The spearman didn't know what was happening to her, but it actually felt...empowering. She felt no fear and she felt no hesitance in anything. She raised her free hand up to her face and she stared at her palm, as if it had all the answers to this.

Mary huffed as she got back up on her feet. She roughly grabbed her Timeless weapon and seemed a bit frazzled as she readied herself to attack.

Alice let out a sharp exhale from her nose, throwing down her free hand. Her spear in the other hand crackled with live red electricity and a dark aura.

_"Whatever it may be...maybe it'll be enough to defeat Mary." _

The two women charged at each other, no restraints holding either one of them back. They both let out a yell before their weapons clashed.

"Heaven's Hammer!"

"Dark Impale!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Why yes, I did just stop it there. _

_Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I had fun writing it. Finally the battles are beginning! Sorry to you Cedric and Ada fans, but they won't be having such a large role in this battle._

_AND YES! We finally meet Dante's dad (and Xin's). Turns out Dante's not an orphan like he thought he was 8) _

_Next chapter will include the conclusion to Mary and Alice's fight as well as the World Tree, Eternus, Xeros, and more ~ Just a little warning, I might get a lot of people hating me for what will happen in the next few chapters, but I've already decided what will happen )8 _

_Chapters are going to be coming out a bit slow because I'm currently in school, I have commissions to take care of, and I spend the rest of that time watching Fairy Tail. I got hooked, BUT watching Fairy Tail makes me want to write more of Aegis LOL. It's very inspiring. _

_P.S. Is it just me or is the Maple section dead-er than before? Hardly anyone reviews anything anymore._


	26. Alice vs Dante

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 26 - Alice vs. Dante**

_She ran past rows upon rows of burning mushroom houses. There was an unpleasant smell of burnt wood mixed in with the ominous scent of burnt human flesh in the air, telling her that Xeros' army probably set fire to the houses with people still trapped inside of them. _

_Despite the fact that she was used to such a smell, being a fire mage, Cecilia still gagged and fought the urge to throw up. _

_She kept a loose cloth over her son's nose as she ran through Henesys, running away from Xeros and away from the fighting. She needed to know where Grendel was. _

_"Cecilia!" _

_Her red eyes widened in a panic, she whipped around, her Evil Wings staff in her hand tightly. _

_"Woah, Cecilia! It's me!" her close friend, Ashley, exclaimed. She gently took hold of her friend's shoulder and tried to calm the archmage down. _

_"A-Ashley..." _

_"Come on! We need to get away from here!" the green haired cleric shouted over the roaring fire that had devoured more than half of Henesys now. _

_The two women ran as fast as they could. Amidst the flames, Cecilia could hear the sounds of the battle in the surrounding forests. This was far from being over..._

_"There!"_

_Ashley quickly ushered Cecilia into a small abandoned mushroom house. It looked as though it was raided, with the furniture all turned over and drawers pilfered of whatever supplies they contained. _

_"Are you hurt anywhere?" Ashley asked concerned. _

_"No, not me. Please check Dante. I had to cast a poison mist to get away. I'm immune to it, but he's not." She handed her friend the baby wrapped in a bundle. _

_The green haired woman held the small infant in her arms and held her hand over his head. The small baby boy happily giggled and clapped his small hands together, blissfully unaware of the dangers that were surrounding him. _

_"He's fine. It doesn't look like he inhaled too much of it," Ashley replied, smiling as she handed Dante back over to his mother. _

_"Oh thank goodness..." Cecilia smiled and snuggled her child. _

_"Ceci..." Ashley suddenly said in a soft voice. "What happened back there? You looked so terrified."_

_Sniffling, Cecilia bit down on her bottom lip and wiped away a tear from her eyes. "It's Alec. He's dead." _

_"Oh my god..." _

_"Xeros...he's after Dante. He's after him because of his bloodline. Alec died trying to protect Dante and I don't know what to do anymore!" she cried, breaking down. "How am I supposed to protect Dante? Xeros intends to use him to amplify his dark magic!" Cecilia cried as she looked down at her son, who stared back up at her with his round red eyes. She smiled softly and held a finger to his soft lips. "You're going to look so much like your father when you grow up," she whispered gently. "You must be safe..."_

_Ashley stared at her friend, dumbfounded, when Cecilia handed the cleric her son. "...Cecilia...?" _

_"Please...take Dante. I know I'm asking for too much, especially since you have Cedric already, but please..." Cecilia bowed her head and cried as she held her friend's hand. "Please take care of Dante."_

_"What are you going to do...?" the cleric asked, worried about what her friend was implying. She watched as the fire mage stood up. "Cecilia? Cecilia!" She stood up as well and quickly grabbed her friend's arm. "Don't do anything so rashly! Think about it! Dante needs you right now! You're his mother for crying out loud! Alec's already dead! Who else is Dante going to depend on? I can take care of him, but I can't take the place of his real mother!" _

_Cecilia shook her head slowly and brought her hand up to wipe away her tears. "This is my last request, Ashley." _

_"Ceci-!" _

_"But if I could ask you for one more favor..." _

_"Huh?" _

_The mage turned around to face her friend. With a broken smile, she whispered, "please don't tell Dante about me or Alec. Label us with a bad name as well, anything. Just don't let him find out about us...about his bloodline."_

* * *

><p>Xin placed his foot down on one of Krylin's dead assassins and sharply pulled out his Doombringer from their chest. He gave it a low swing and the blood that had coated the weapon flew off onto the ground.<p>

"Is that the last of them?" he asked Lia, who had finished off dozens of assassins on her own.

"Yes...I believe so," she replied breathlessly.

Xin looked around at what remained of the ambush and sighed at the greatly diminished number of Aegis soldiers.

"Not off to a great start, are we?"

"You could say that. Just be thankful that there are still two more ships with soldiers scheduled to arrive at dawn."

The crusader smirked before stabbing his Doombringer into the soft mossy ground. "Then I guess we'll have to hold Ellinia until dawn." He raised an eyebrow at the fire mage and asked, "...but you're not going to stay here, are you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean-"

"I'm not in the Reconnaissance for nothing." Xin smiled haughtily. "I can read people's facial expressions very well. Even though you're eyes are covered, the movement of your mouth shows a lot."

"I-"

"You're concerned for Dante, aren't you?"

Lia visibly flinched, which Xin noticed immediately.

"I won't tell anyone if it affects you that much...but-" Xin moved in closer to the female platoon leader and dropped his voice to a low whisper, "you'll have to take me with you."

"Why's that?" she asked.

"Alice is gone too and I have just the same reason to go find Dante as you...maybe an even more compelling reason. I promised Alice that I would protect both of them and that's what I intend to do until the very end."

"You'll be disobeying orders though."

"Won't you be as well?" Xin responded. "Athena wants all platoon leaders to stay with their platoons."

"My platoon only has orders to remain in Ellinia and keep it safe for the time being. They will be fine."

"And what will you do once this is all over? Athena and the council might take away your platoon leader status if they find out that you disobeyed direct orders."

Lia lowered her head and whispered softly, "I have no intentions on coming back...regardless of what happens. All I want is to keep Dante safe."

The black haired warrior chuckled lightly, seeing as how Lia wasn't backing down from this decision. "Well then, I'll accompany you. I've been near Krylin's castle once before. I'm sure you'd need help to get there."

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>The whole chamber rattled and rumbled with debris flying around everywhere. Dust and smoke filled the air around the two female warriors that showed no restraint towards each other.<p>

Mary panted heavily as she wiped away some dirt from her cheek. It smudged her pale complexion, presenting a flaw.

Alice stood a few feet away from her. She stabbed her polearm into the hard ground and leaned against it, using it as a support. Despite having absorbed the Beholder's power, she was having trouble controlling.

She grit her teeth at the rushing, whirling thoughts in her head.

_"Calm down...calm down..." _she told herself, holding her head in the process.

Her head was starting to ache and throb from the madness from the Beholder's dark energy.

"Heh, already finished?" Mary asked smugly, seeing Alice in slight pain. "I knew it. You may be able to control the same dark energy as Krylin, but you'll never be able to gain full control of it."

Alice saw the paladin jump up into the air, swinging her Timeless hammer back.

Despite the pain inside of her head, Alice managed to dodge her attack easily. Her body was getting faster and stronger...

Each passing second, Alice felt as if she was losing touch with her own body. It was as if it had a mind of its own as she unleashed attack upon attack on Mary.

She rushed towards the paladin at an incredible speed, her polearm pointed straight forward.

"Divine Shield!" Mary shouted just before Alice could hit her.

Alice saw a light blue shield with a large cross in front of it surrounding Mary. She stepped back just slightly to bring her Eviscerator back high up above her head. A swirl of pure black energy and red lightning surrounded her polearm as she swung it down upon the shield.

The two clashing energies collided and produced a large wave of pressure throughout the chamber.

_"What's happening?" _

Alice broke through Mary's shield, shattering it into a million shards of light.

Taken aback by surprise, Mary took a step back and tried to protect herself with her weapon, but she was too slow.

_"I can't control my body at all..."_

Alice slashed at the paladin with her Dark Impale and sent her flying.

Mary cried out in pain as she flew back and hit the walls of the chamber. She fell to the ground, but picked herself right up. Her breathing was ragged and crazed as a part of her face started to crack.

"I'm not losing to you! Julia made sure that I was superior to you! She made me stronger than you!"

Mary let out a yell as she rushed up to the spearman. She handled the heavy blunt weapon as if it was made out of lightweight paper, swinging it around and over flawlessly.

_"Is this the Beholder spirit...?" _

The blue haired paladin smirked when she saw an opening. She brought back her Timeless hammer and swung it directly at Alice. "Heaven's Hammer!" she shouted.

Alice took the direct hit and flew off until she met the nearest wall. Silently, she slid to the ground, but for some reason she couldn't feel any pain. As she tried to get up, she stumbled. Curious as to why, Alice looked down and saw that her leg was bent out of shape, almost in a grotesque manner.

Mary laughed loudly at how she disabled Alice. "How are you going to fight with only one leg?"

Narrowing her eyes, Alice didn't say anything as she tried to get up. The Beholder spirit was weakened slightly because of the nature of Mary's attack and it couldn't heal such a large injury quickly.

The spearman stood up to what extent she could and turned her head back.

_"Dante..."_

He was chained to the wall just behind her, still unconscious.

Alice raised her hand out towards him and slowly began to walk.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mary asked, scoffing in amusement. "No one can break those chains except Krylin."

_"What am I doing...?" _

Alice leaned up and cupped his face before moving down to his neck. His skin felt cool and a pleasurable sensation ran through her body, tingling her nerves, even though she couldn't really touch him through her gloves.

Then-

_"...Eh? What am I?" _

She bit down on his neck, hard enough to draw blood. Dante squirmed uncomfortably, even while unconscious , against his binds.

Alice grabbed a fistful of his black hair and pulled his head off to the side, gaining access to more of his neck.

_"Stop!" _

Alice lost complete control of her body as soon as she lapped up his blood. The chaos that had dwelled within her mind was spiraling wildly into darkness. She could feel the Beholder spirit gaining control, taking the reins on her body as she tried to stop herself.

"Nn..." Dante stirred, waking up from the pain that he felt on his neck. It took him a while to realize what was going on.

He saw a patch of blue hair in the corner of his eyes and muttered weakly, "Alice...?"

She lavishly suckled and licked at his wound, lapping up the blood. When she drew back, Dante briefly saw the look in her eyes.

"Alice...?" he asked once more, frightened by what he saw.

The whites of her eyes were a complete black with her irises shining a bright purple. A part of her face had strange black markings scrawled all over her pale skin. It seemed to extend to her neck and disappear underneath her chest plate.

She didn't answer him as she looked back down at her leg, which was completely healed.

"Alice!" Dante desperately wanted to find out what had happened to her. He pulled on his chains as he shouted after her, "Alice! What happened to you!?"

Alice didn't turn around to him as she faced Mary again.

The other woman didn't seem fazed by the spearman's sudden change in appearance, no matter how frightening she looked.

"Heh, so you managed to heal your leg. No matter...I'll just break off both of them this time." Mary grinned evilly and ran towards Alice. She brought her weapon high above her head and swung it down in a large arch.

Alice blocked it swiftly with her polearm, despite the heavy blow. Her eyes were trained on Mary in an impassive gaze as she slowly replaced the polearm with her hand.

"Wh-What?"

Startled by how Alice was holding her weapon with her hand, Mary tried to pull back, but she was stopped.

"Let go!" the paladin shouted, pulling on her Timeless weapon.

Alice stayed there, holding onto Mary's hammer tightly in a vicegrip. Dante watched her from the sidelines, confused as to what was happening to her.

Finally, Mary grit her teeth and yelled out, "Heaven's Hammer!"

The hammer glowed a bright yellow, swelling with a strong force of holy magic. Alice was forced to let go as the energy repelled her hand. Before she could dodge, Mary brought the bright large hammer swinging towards her sides and directly struck her in the sides.

"Alice!" Dante shouted as he saw the warrior roll across the ground violently. He tugged at his chains, trying to go up to her. He stopped when he saw Alice get back up as if nothing had happened.

She rolled her head back and her shoulders, her bones cracking and snapping back into place.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Mary screamed, running up to the spearman to begin her barrage of attacks. Her temper flared when Alice easily dodged and blocked every one of her attacks. "You bitch!"

Alice finally blocked one attack and launched one of her own.

In a large arch, Alice swung her heavy Eviscerator back and struck Mary in the stomach. The paladin flew back and immediately afterwards, Alice spun her polearm sharply once over and muttered, "Dark Impale."

She threw her polearm and it flew off after Mary. As soon as the blue haired woman hit the wall, the polearm impaled her through the chest, pinning her there.

Mary gagged as blood flew out from her mouth. Blood soon seeped down the walls, painting it in a deep red. It was a gory scene as Mary finally let go of her weapon.

Dante watched in horror. He had never seen Alice fight so violently. What exactly happened to her while he was unconscious?

"Alice..." he tried calling out to her.

He saw the blue haired girl turn around to face him. The black markings seemed to consume her slowly as it expanded past her nose. Her blue hair seemed darker and wilder, flying out behind her.

"Alice, wake up." Dante desperately tried to reach her, but with no avail.

She finally came up in front of him. The corners of her lips twitched as she looked up at him and Dante thought that he finally got through to her...

Instead she grinned crazily and giggled as she grabbed a fistful of his onyx black hair.

Dante grunted at the pain from her tugging on his tendrils violently. "Alice..."

"Your blood tasted really good," Alice whispered, her voice low and insane. Her slick tongue ran over his warm skin, over the previous injury she had caused.

He flinched at the stinging sensation he felt. "Wake up...you idiot."

"Do you still think I'm Alice?" She chuckled into his ear as she pet his head. "So cute..."

"...Then who are you?"

Pulling away from him, Alice smirked. "I'm what you need to tame, but...I'm wondering if you can."

"What?"

"You need to tame me if you want Alice back, but she needs to be the one to tame you."

Dante furrowed his brow in confusion.

"You still don't get it do you?" She walked up to him and grabbed a hold of the chains that held him to the wall. With a hard pull, she single-handedly released him from the wall.

Dante grunted as he fell to his knees, but before he could get up, Alice knelt down beside him and took hold of his jaw.

He found himself staring into the dark abyss of her eyes.

"You need to make Alice tame you unless you want to be consumed by the darkness just like her."

"...Who are you?" Dante growled lowly.

"I'm the Beholder spirit you need to tame, but if you don't want to that's fine. I like being free for once." A grin painted itself across her face as she let him go. "You're free to run away if you want, but just know that I will always hunt you down. Your bloodline is what I need in order to grow."

Dante picked himself up onto his feet. He gave the chains that were still attached to his wrists a little tug and saw them disappear before his eyes. "Why would you think I'm going to run away?"

Smiling in growing anticipation, Alice turned around lazily. "Hm?"

"I'm going to tame you."

"Oh?"

"And you're going to bring Alice back."

The spearman chuckled darkly for a while before her laugh grew louder. She raised her hand out towards her Eviscerator, that was still pinning Mary's dead body against the wall.

It flew to Alice as if it was a piece of metal drawn to a magnet. Her laughter stopped as soon as her weapon was in her hands.

Letting out a soft sigh, she rolled her head back and let out a soft 'hmph.' "Fine then...but just because you're my lifeline, doesn't mean that I'm going to go easy on you. I can still use your blood when you're half-dead."

Dante spotted his Dark Arund near the spot where he was chained.

Alice giggled and spun her Eviscerator effortlessly. "You can go get it if you want. I won't attack you until you're armed. I think it's cruel to be hunting down defenseless prey."

The archer narrowed her red eyes at the woman. He made his way towards his weapon and quietly picked it up off the ground.

"Alice...she's still here, isn't she?"

"She might be."

Dante heard the sound of a footstep behind him. Quickly he whipped around. His red eyes widened in surprise when he saw Alice directly in front of him.

She sneered at him before she swung down her polearm.

"But you'll have to deal with me first."

* * *

><p>"Froid?" Athena asked when she saw the ice mage step out from the small boat onto the dock. Her icy blue eyes widened when she saw Sean stepping out behind him. "What are you doing here? I thought my orders were clear; remain in Orbis until this is all over."<p>

The brown haired mage bowed deeply, expressing his respect. "I'm deeply sorry, Miss Athena...but there was an incident." He made a little motion with his hand, silently telling the elf to come in closer to him.

He brought his voice down to a hushed whisper. "It's something that may concern the World Tree."

"What of it?" Athena asked, Froid gaining her interest.

"It's the girl that died a few days ago...Meg Aomori. Her body was taken by Ciel Clawrence."

"Impossible...the prodigy of the Academy was working for Krylin?"

"No...I questioned her about it, but she said that she isn't in league with Krylin."

"Mm..." The elf closed her eyes in thought as she cupped her chin. "...Well in any case, why are you here with Sean?"

"We suspected that Miss Clawrence has escaped to Victoria Island, since it's where the World Tree is thought to be located at. And Sean..." Froid looked back at the young boy with a warm smile.

Sean, knowing that they were talking about him, undoubtedly about his presence there, spoke up timidly.

"I...I need to save Meg! Please, Miss Athena!" Sean bowed his head, begging.

"It's too dangerous for an Academy student to be here..." she flickered her eyes over to Froid, "even under a platoon leader."

"I need to do this! Meg...Meg's my friend! I was never useful to her, but for once...just for once I want to do something for her on my own! It's my last chance!"

Athena lowered her eyes down to his pet husky, who added in a loud bark, as if it was in support of Sean.

"We have no idea what may happen. The battlefield is unpredictable...do you know the risks involved...?"

Sean steadied his shaking hands before answering. "I understand...I just want to save Meg."

Froid smiled, beaming at the confidence that seemed to fill the young warrior. He turned around to the female elf. "Well...you can't really say no to that, can you Miss Athena?"

She let out an exasperated sigh before pinching the bridge of her nose. "...Froid...I want you to be with Sean at all times. I don't want anymore unnecessary casualties."

"Of course." Froid placed his brown leather gloved hand on Sean's bony shoulder. He flashed a reassuring smile towards Athena and then looked down at Sean. "Now then...how about you lead us to Meg? Or rather...should I say, Dante lead us?"

The husky at Sean's feet barked happily, eager and willing to help.

Sean nodded before kneeling down in front of the dog. He produced a small hair ribbon that Meg had worn from his back pocket and held it in front of Dante's nose.

"Okay, go boy!" he exclaimed.

Letting out one last bark, the husky rushed off into the deep forests of Ellinia, following Meg's scent trail.

"Ah! Dante! Wait! Don't run off so fast!"

Froid ran after the two of them, shouting out, "Sean! Stay close to me!"

Athena watched until the three of them were swallowed up by the large trees. She sighed softly, looking back out at the dock, filled with injured Aegis soldiers. "Be careful."

* * *

><p>Dante grunted as he fell back against the ground. However, he had no time to waste as he saw Alice coming down on him with her polearm poised for attack.<p>

Quickly, he rolled out of the way, dodging her devastating attack.

He got back up on his feet as soon as Alice impacted the ground where he once lay. The booming loud noise echoed throughout the underground chamber and when Dante saw the small crater she had created with her polearm, he knew that she wasn't holding back.

"What's the matter?" she asked, grinning darkly, "can't hit your precious little Alice?"

Dante saw her quickly leap back into action, swinging her polearm wildly at him. He dodged most of her attacks, but on the last swing, he had no choice, but to block it. The terrible sound of metal clashing against metal sounded as her Eviscerator scraped up against his Dark Arund.

Propelled back by her strong attack, Dante slid on the ground on his feet.

He grit his teeth when he felt a dull ache in the arm that held his Arund. "Alice! Come to your senses!" he shouted.

"So noisy!" she shouted, clearing her ear. "How many times do I have to tell you? Alice is gone!"

Dante narrowed his red eyes at her.

"What you think I'm lying?" The Beholder spirit chuckled as she held her head. She ran her fingers up through her hair, brushing back her bangs. By her doing this, Dante finally saw the black markings that had now consumed more than half of her face.

"I'm the one in control right now, but it's cute that you think you have a chance of reaching out towards Alice. Like she can stop me," she sneered mockingly. "Like you could stop me either..."

"What?"

"I defeated a bioweapon! If that bitch couldn't defeat me, then I don't think you can possibly even dream of defeating me!"

Dante glanced over at Mary's dead body, still slumped over on the ground.

"Alice..." he muttered under his breath, facing the spearman again. "Don't make me do this..."

"Oh?"

He raised his bow and held it tightly. The Dark Arund suddenly began glowing a bright yellow, a brilliant light emitting from it as it grew longer. A large circle appeared in front of it, fluctuating with energy. Several large yellow wings spread out from the center, unfolding one by one, letting dozens of feathers airborne into the air around Dante.

Alice giggled. "So...you're finally getting serious. How fun."

She charged at him and at that moment, Dante pulled back the string to his Arund.

Hundreds of glowing arrows flew out towards Alice. She blocked then with her polearm, spinning the weapon expertly like a seasoned fighter.

Alice grinned as she gathered up dark energy again. "Dark Impale!" she shouted, aiming it directly in the middle of Dante's Hurricane.

The archer quickly released his string and crouched down, dodging her attack in the nick of time. He quickly gave a sweeping kick underneath her, causing her to fall over.

She fell to the ground, landing on her back.

As soon as Dante readied an arrow to attack her, he stopped when he saw her open her eyes.

"Dante..." she whispered, her voice nearly wracked with tears and hurt. He saw her clear blue eyes again, shimmering with the onset of tears.

He gasped softly, hesitating in his attack, which proved to be his fatal mistake.

Immediately, Alice grinned, sneering at him as she grabbed her polearm and stabbed him clearly through with one of the Eviscerator's sharp points. Her eyes returned back to their blackened state as she twisted the weapon, tearing up his insides.

"Stuuu-pid," she drawled out, relishing the sight of him coughing up copious amounts of blood. She stood up, watching him slowly sink to the ground. "You really thought that was Alice for a second-?" Her speech faltered suddenly when Dante burst into a dozen pieces of hay. "What-?"

She heard a sound behind her, but before she could turn around, she was hit from behind with a penetrating arrow blow.

Alice cried out as she fell forward. Her face contorted into anger when she felt him pin her down by placing his foot on her back.

"You really thought that was me for a second?" he asked, mimicking what she had said earlier as he produced a glowing arrow in his hands and pulling back the string to his Arund. "Bring back Alice."

The Beholder spirit let out a soft laugh. "Like I'd do that."

Dante set his jaw and shot down the arrow, piercing and pinning Alice's wrist down onto the ground.

She hissed in pain as he produced another arrow.

"I'll ask you again...bring Alice back."

"Need I remind you that this is Alice's body? If you kill me, you'll kill her too!" Her lips curled up into a grin when all she heard from him was silence. "Guess you didn't think about that, huh?"

"...There's nothing to think about."

"What...?"

Dante lowered his bow and took his foot off of her back. "I believe in you Alice."

"What are you saying? She's not here, you dumbass. How many times do I have to-?"

"It isn't like you to give up," Dante continued, despite what the Beholder was telling him. "Didn't you promise that you'd save me?" He knelt down beside her and gently traced the outline of her face.

She snapped at him, trying to bite at his fingers, but the arrow in her wrist kept her pinned to the spot.

"Since you wanted to save me so much..." Dante pulled out a large hunting knife from it's hold that was strapped to his left thigh. He kept a steady gaze on her as he held the knife.

"What? You think stabbing me will help bring Alice back-?" The Beholder stopped talking when she saw Dante bring the knife up to his neck and cut. "What the hell are you doing!?" she screamed.

"...then save me." Dante finished, dragging the knife down from his neck and towards his chest, putting more and more pressure on it, making his cuts deeper.

The Beholder twitched and started to go crazy at the sight and scent of his blood. Her eyes widened when she felt Dante's blood drip onto her cheek.

Dante kept his eyes trained on her as he cut through his dark blue leather top. "Alice..."

_"Dante...wait." _

He moved the knife and positioned the tip directly over his heart.

"You fool! Don't you dare!" The Beholder screamed, thrashing around. "I need you alive!"

Dante pushed on the knife, a pin prick of ruby red blood forming on his skin. "Alice-"

_"No!" _

Suddenly Alice reached out with her hand and grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Dante, stop!" she cried out.

Dante watched as her eyes reverted back to her normal color and the markings on her skin began to recede. He could feel her hand trembling softly against his as she held him.

"Dante...don't do that," Alice said, her hair going back to her normal cyan color. "Especially for my sake..."

The archer pulled the knife away and let it drop to the ground. He allowed for the arrow in her wrist to disappear, freeing her. "Alice..." He moved closer to her as she sat up.

She offered up a shy little smile, the smile that he was used to. "Did I save you?" Her voice was light and weak, still recovering from her ordeal with the Beholder spirit.

Dante shook his head and muttered, "idiot," as he scooped her up in his arms. "You can't tell?"

"Well...you're bleeding everywhere..." Alice sleepily whispered.

"Only because you took so long to come to your senses," he chuckled, letting her rest her head against him.

"Oh...sorry," she muttered, her eyelids fluttering open and closed. Alice smiled softly as she closed her eyes. "I'll be sure to-"

Dante's eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he heard her trail off. "Alice?" he asked, panic rising in his voice as he held her. "Alice?" He gently shook her. "Alice!?"

He brought his fingers up to her neck to check for a pulse, but he couldn't feel anything. Panting, Dante set her down on the group and tilted her head up a little before holding her nose. He leaned down and locked his lips over hers, breathing air into her lungs.

"Alice...!" he shouted, placing his hands below her chest, pushing down several times, trying to revive her.

He repeated this several times, but with no luck.

"Damn it, Alice! Wake up!"

As Dante moved his hand away from her chest, he stopped when he saw a dark aura emitting from his hands. Thinking that it was something harmful, he moved back, only to have his hands lose the aura.

"Alice?" he whispered, moving close to her again. Dante stared down at his hands again and experimentally held them over her chest again.

His hands were consumed in a dark aura again, but this time he kept his hands there. He had no idea what was going on, but he didn't question it when he saw that Alice had resumed her breathing again.

Relief swept through his body when he saw her eyelids part just slightly.

"Alice-" He stopped when he felt a pang of pain inside of his chest. At first he thought that it was because of his self-inflicted injuries, but when the pain grew, he grit his teeth.

The spearman moved her head and looked up at him. "Dante...?"

He saw the injury on her wrist healing up and her skin replenished of its natural glow. Whatever he was doing, it was healing her...but-

"Ah!" Dante cried out, finally drawing back his hands away from her. His body resonated with pain, which slowly started to disappear as soon as he took his hands off Alice.

"Dante?" Alice asked, panicking as she sat up. She scooted over to him and worriedly held his shoulder. "Dante? What were you doing?"

He breathed out heavily as he managed to tell her, "I think...I was healing you. I don't know how, but I did it."

"Eh-?" Alice remembered what Dante's father had told her earlier.

_"He can amplify your dark magic and tame the Beholder spirit within you. That's the purpose of the Kyudo line. It's what he's been assigned to do since he was born."_

Alice brought him into her arms, holding him gently as she thought back to what she was told.

_"Being an amplifier means putting yourself through excruciating pain in order to provide their master strength."_

_Excruciating pain..._

She looked down at Dante, still recovering from healing her. A soft, shuddering breath left her as she held him.

_"Dante's meant to do this...? Since the day he was born?_ _I can hurt him so much without even doing anything..." _

Alice gently kissed the top of his head and pet his soft black hair. "I'm sorry, Dante."

"...For what, idiot?" he chuckled.

"I..."

_"I can never let Krylin get her hands on him. If he's in this much pain from only healing me...how much pain would he be in if he was amplifying more powerful magic?" _

"I need to tell you something. I'm a user of dark magic...and you're supposed to be my amplifier. It's what the Kyudo line is supposed to do."

* * *

><p>High above in the dark trees of Sleepywood, a certain blond pirate made his way quietly towards Krylin's castle.<p>

Having stealth on his side, he hopped through the trees lightly on his feet, making hardly any sound. When he got to a swampy marsh just outside of Krylin's main castle, he hid among the trees, peeking out.

There seemed to be no soldiers or watchmen...anywhere.

Finding it strange, he jumped down from the trees and landed lightly on the ground.

"I was wondering when you'd get here."

He whipped around just in time to dodge two bullets. They penetrated the ground where he once stood.

Isabelle jumped down from the high trees and landed on the soft ground. She held her red gun and pointed it at the male pirate.

"So...I heard you're guilty for murdering Dr. Everard. And now, you're here to kill Krylin? Is it because of what I said earlier, Ivan?"

Ivan lowered his green eyes silently.

"So it is. Krylin doesn't take too kindly to your betrayal, Ivan. She thought about killing you, but then she thought it would be better if she killed Minna instead."

The blond gunslinger pulled out his Sharktooth gun and closed his eyes before whispering out lowly, "I won't let her."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_IVAN'S BACK! _

_So to clarify, Dante's power is basically the same as the Beholder's in game. He can heal Alice to a certain extent and "buff" her so to speak, by amplifying her dark magic. _

_Thank you to Kachinling-chan, Skiesxfly, Deathly Betrayal, Ka-tay's mind, SwingofIce26,ThanhnuFia, Mister very kind Guest, and codellmarie! I really enjoyed reading your reviews!_

_Now to answer some of your questions!_

_**Deathly Betrayal **- She kind of "progressed" into becoming a Dark Knight. I didn't state it in the story explicitly, but her negative energy and the dark emotions that came from Dante's "death" in the past years really influenced her. In my story, other "Dragon Knights" do not get to be "Dark Knights." This will be explained in the future chapters!  
><em>

_**SwingofIce26 **- Well, there are still many other authors that are still posting and updating their stories. I don't see why the Maple section death has anything to do with WildOrion. He didn't father the section, nor is he some god. Him quitting has nothing to do with how the Maple section is getting slower and slower. This section has been on the decline ever since Kal stopped updating his Revolt fic. I remember even my first shetty chapters of Aegis during that time were getting like 10 reviews each time I updated.  
><em>

_It's just that, that old community is getting older...moving on to different things in life, while the younger Maple community remain immature and trolly on Basilmarket. _

_That's just how I see it at least. _

_**ThanhnuFia **- Oh...don't worry. Someone will notice that Xin is a Kyudo as well ;)  
><em>

_**Random Guest - **I'm always looking forward to new reviewers such as yourself! Just makes me happy to see some new faces among the old ones that enjoy my story! Thank you very much for your comments and I'm very glad you're enjoying the story! _

_As for the pronunciation of "Aegis," it can apparently be called two different ways. Either "ey-gis" or "ee-jis." But I'm going to go with the original Greek pronunciation and say that it's pronounced as "ee-jis." If you go to Dictionary dot com, type in Aegis and there will be a little speaker icon next to the word. Click it and whatever that robot lady says, is how you pronounce the title of this story :) _

_So if I didn't reply to your review, it just means that you didn't really state a question. Doesn't mean that I don't appreciate it or didn't read it ! (Triple negative sentence! -le die- ) _

_Thank you again to all those that reviewed! Feedback on a chapter that I worked hours on is really refreshing to read!_

_Annnd! Of all of my stories, Aegis: Fragments has the most reviews per chapter! It's currently tied in overall reviews with the first 'Aegis', but remember the first Aegis has over 30 chapters, while Fragments is only on the 26th chapter! So thank you guys again! _


	27. Berserker

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 27 - Berserker**

"Are you sure you're okay?" Alice asked, helping Dante up to his feet.

"I'm fine," he breathed out, wincing as he got up.

"You didn't have to go to such an extent to wake me up..." Alice looked down at the bloody cuts that he inflicted on himself.

"Then you should have woken up earlier."

She sourly turned away, which Dante noticed immediately.

"Hey..." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and turned her around. "Don't feel guilty over what happened."

"I'm not-!" Alice blushed when he brought her in for a hug. "Stupid! Let go! I'm getting all bloody..." Secretly, she enjoyed it and even more secretly, she liked how he didn't let go despite what she said.

"None of this was your fault. You didn't choose to be a user of dark magic and you didn't choose for me to be your amplifier," he chuckled softly, "whatever that means."

"But-"

"You got healed whether you wanted it or not. I'm glad I was able to make you all better."

Alice shyly looked away when he kissed her forehead. She quickly pushed him away after wards, embarrassed.

"L-Let's just get going. Krylin might be here any second."

Dante laughed as he followed the spearman out of the chamber. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Then why are you all flustered?"

"I'm not! Stupid Dante!"

Just as they were out, Dante stopped in front of the mouth of the corridor ahead and turned back.

"Dante?" Alice asked.

"Why don't you go scout ahead? Make sure things are safe. I need to take care of something here first."

Sourly, Alice crossed her arms over her chest. "Why me?"

"Because, since you aren't with Lia at the moment, you're my martyr for the time being."

The spearman pursed her lips and grumble a silent 'fine' and walked into the dark corridor alone.

Dante turned back around and slowly walked up to Mary's body. He knelt down in front of her and quietly observed her face. She really did look strikingly similar to Alice.

Being a bioweapon, already her body was starting to fall apart, decomposing.

He raised a hand up to cup her brittle cheek, cracking and splintering. "I should hate you for what you've done to me and Alice..." Dante lowered her hands down to the back of her neck and gently unclipped the red butterfly necklace from her. He slipped it in his pockets and turned his attention back to her.

Wordlessly, Dante got up onto his feet and exited the chamber just as Alice popped out from the corridor.

"Dante! I found the way to Krylin's throne room!" she exclaimed, still making sure to keep her voice down. "Or rather..." her voice trailed off.

"Or rather?"

Alice fiddled with her hands. "I-I'm not exactly sure if it's her throne room, but she seemed to keep it hidden. It's still important to her."

"Either way, we should get there. If it's something Krylin holds important, then it's worth investigating."

* * *

><p>Minna breathed heavily, panting as her chest heaved up and down according to each breath.<p>

"I saw her go that way!"

She pushed herself to keep running when she heard the voices of Krylin's assassins closing in on her. The soft blue fabric of her Bazura dress brushed up against her knees with each stride.

"That way! I see her!"

Minna let out a frightened whimper, fearing that she would be captured.

She released her Thorns staff from its hold on her back and held it tightly, seeing as how she would need to defend herself.

The only reason she got separated from everyone was because of the ambush at the Ellinia port. She was with Cedric and Ada just as the smoke screen filled the entire area.

_"Oh...why why why did I have to get separately?"_

Minna ran further, but it wasn't long before she fell, tripping over one of the gnarled roots of a ghastly looking tree.

She crashed down onto the ground, scraping her knees and getting dirt smudged on her cheek.

"Now, now girly, we won't hurt you..."

The strawberry blond cleric gasped softly when she turned around. Her heart raced when she saw the assassins that were chasing her.

"You led us through quite the chase. Caused a lot of trouble for us," the assassin said, twirling a steely around his index finger. "You can come with us quietly. We won't hurt you a pretty little thing like you."

Minna could feel their eyes all over her as she laid there in the dirt.

Just as one tried to pounce on her, steely raised up above his head, she gasped and quickly shouted, "mana guard!"

A clear film of mana appeared before her, the man crashing into it face first. He staggered back, holding his now broken nose.

"You little bitch..." he growled out. "Get her!" he ordered the other assassins behind him.

Minna instinctively raised her hands above her head, protecting herself in fear.

"How long are you going to sit there?" a familiar voice asked.

The cleric and Krylin's assassins looked up at the direction from where the voice came from. Immediately, Minna's face brightened up at the sight of Ada sitting on one of the tree branches up ahead.

"Ada!" she exclaimed happily.

The black haired girl grinned haughtily as she stood up on the branch.

"Is this one of your Aegis friends?" one of the assassins asked, stepping forward. He chuckled softly. "Looks like all of you have a death wish."

"Think again," Ada said, sneering as she disappeared in the shadows of the tall trees, right before their eyes.

Almost immediately after, one assassin got a single steely right to the head. He fell over onto the ground, dead.

"What the-?"

In a flash, he saw her leaping up high above them, performing an agile flip as she threw out six steelies. Each one of them struck an assassin in the head, killing them instantly.

She landed on the ground, but just then, Minna saw an assassin right behind her.

"Ada, watch out!"

The black haired girl was grabbed from behind in a choke hold, but in the same minute, her body wavered and them disappeared into nothing, but shadows.

"Another clone!?" the assassins exclaimed. There were only three of them left now and they were starting to become nervous.

"There she is!" one of them shouted. "Watch out!"

But it was too late. Ada widened her stance and pulled her hand back. An energy swirled at her palms and formed a large Avenger throwing star. It shimmered brilliantly in different shades of colors.

In a hefty throw, Ada shot out the large star. All of this happening in under a few seconds.

Minna watched in amazement when she saw the female assassin taking out the two assassins with one attack. Both of them were sliced and impaled by the large weapon and fell over dead.

By now, there was only one of Krylin's assassin left, the ringleader.

He started to panic and made a motion to grab Minna, attempting to use her as a hostage, but he was too slow.

His eyes widened when he felt the cool point of a dagger being pushed into the base of his skull.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Minna blinked and then smiled when she saw the green haired bandit. "Cedric!"

Without any warning or second chances, Cedric stabbed his Varkit dagger into the man's head and quickly pulled it out. It was a clean kill as the man staggered and then fell down at Minna's feet.

Cedric let out a sigh of relief as he cleaned off the dagger on the man's shirt. He turned towards Minna and smiled broadly. "Thank goodness we showed up when we did-OW!" he yelped as Ada gave him a sound slap to the back of his head.

"You pervert! What do you mean _we_? I got here first! You were behind me because you were complaining that your feet hurt!"

"Ada..." Cedric whimpered, holding his head in pain.

Ada shot him a deathly glare before she turned her attention to Minna. Her gaze softened up a little as she asked the cleric, "are you hurt anywhere, Minna?"

"N-No...I'm fine! See?" Minna energetically raised her arm up, flexing her thin arm even though she had no visible muscles to show off.

The assassin flipped her long bang with a flicker of her head, only to have it completely cover her eye again. "Just don't run off like that unless you know you can defend yourself. Jeez...causing more trouble for us..." Ada grumbled.

"Sorry," Minna replied with a light-hearted giggle.

Ada sighed tiredly and turned back around. "We should get back to the troops. Despite the ambush, we still need to lead the remaining troops down towards Henesys."

"Oh, uhm..." Minna nervously clasped her hands in front of her.

"Hm?"

"...I'm not leaving."

"What?" Ada said incredulously. "You're kidding. Where do you think you'll go?"

"Ivan...he's nearby..."

"And how can you tell? His mana is undetectable since he's a bioweapon. Even Cedric and I can't sense him-!"

"Well, I can!" Minna retorted strongly, surprising Ada for a second. The strawberry blonde drew back a little and whispered, "there's no other reason for Ivan to run away and disappear like this unless he had something he needed to do. He's going towards Krylin's castle...I know."

"And how could you possibly know that?"

"I don't..." Minna admitted, "it's just a guess, but I'm willing to bet my life on it. And...I'll do anything to help him. I don't want him to be alone."

"But-!" Ada frowned when Cedric held up an arm in front of her, blocking her from going any further.

The green haired bandit smiled kindly and nodded. "Go. Be careful though...we probably won't be able to rescue you if you get yourself in anymore trouble."

"Thank you," Minna briefly said before taking off.

Almost immediately after, Ada shouted at her platoon leader. "Why did you let her do that!?"

"Would it have turned out any differently?"

"Huh?"

"She wanted to be with him. Even if she came with us, I'm sure she would have left sooner or later."

"But we don't even know if she's going to meet up with him!"

Cedric smiled off into the direction where the cleric had run away towards. "She knows..." he turned to Ada, "Minna knows."

* * *

><p>The dark corridor seemed to be nothing, but endless tunnels and turns. The air smelled damp and musty as they both ran through with no hesitation.<p>

As Alice and Dante got closer to the chamber where Alice had seen the large tree along with the fairy, the air got lighter and felt more fresh.

"Dante, what do we do once we get there?" she asked, running alongside him.

"We'll see..." he breathed out.

Not before long, the two of them faced a dead end with only a single large iron door. They stopped running and stood at the other end of the corridor, simply staring at the door curiously.

"I remember Krylin led me through there."

Dante furrowed his brow slightly as he muttered, "I think...I remember too. I'm not certain, but it feels familiar..." He slowly walked up to it, with Alice following closely behind.

With his fingertips, he brushed the dips and curves that were embellished on the doorway. They seemed like nonsense patterns, but they still had a sense of order to them. He placed his palm down on the door and gave it a slight push.

It didn't budge.

Alice looked up at him and then back at the door. "What are you doing? Push harder."

"No, it's sealed by magic," Dante commented, keeping his hand on the door as he tilted his head back to look at it fully. "No matter how much we try to break it down, I doubt it'll work."

The spearman quirked an eyebrow up as she examined the door. "Probably only so that Krylin could get in, right?"

"That's correct..." A familiar voice from behind them answered.

They both whipped around and sure enough, it was no one other than Krylin.

She smirked as her high black heels clicked with each step. "No need to be so hostile."

"And why's that?" Dante asked, keeping on edge as Krylin came in closer.

Krylin smiled, amused with the two of them. She silently glanced back behind them, staring at the sealed iron door. "You want to get in there I assume? I wonder if you could without my help."

"I'm sure we could." Alice stepped up in between the mage and Dante.

"Oh?" Krylin chuckled. "Are you trying to defend him? How cute." Her purple eyes narrowed as she grinned when she saw Alice tighten her hands around her polearm. "But I wonder...if you can defend yourself against Dante."

"Eh?"

"Dante-" Krylin waved her hand over to him in a graceful arc "-please restrain her."

Alice's blue eyes widened when she felt Dante grab her, almost roughly, by the arms.

"Dante!" she shouted in surprise when he pried her hands away from her polearm. Alice struggled against him as he held her hands behind her in a tight hold.

Krylin giggled softly against her hand. "Perfect. Oh?" she asked, noticing Alice's obvious distress. "Are you confused? Perhaps you two forgot that Dante was reinfected with my poison. My voice can still bind him, whether he likes it or not."

Alice grit her teeth as she struggled to free herself. "Dante!" she exclaimed, turning her head to look back at him.

His red eyes remained focused on her blankly, as if he were in a trance.

"Come, Dante. Bring that wench with you too." Krylin strode past them and straight towards the iron door. She raised her pale, fragile hand up and immediately the door glowed with a dark purple aura. The various markings that were etched into the door lit up.

Alice watched as the heavy door swung open, revealing the dark staircase that she had been led down before when she was imprisoned.

"Follow me."

The spearman grit her teeth, trying to free herself from Dante's iron-like grip. "Dante...-"

"Shh."

Alice widened her blue eyes when she heard him. Quickly, she turned her head around and saw his eyes flicker over to Krylin, who was walking down the staircase. He squeezed her wrists slightly, silently telling her to follow his lead.

The warrior kept her mouth shut and decided to go along with whatever plan he had.

As Dante led Alice down the stairs, Krylin spoke up, never looking back at the two of them.

"So tell me..." she started, "how is it knowing that your mother is dead?"

"It doesn't matter to me," Alice replied, with very little care. "She hardly acted like a good mother."

Krylin's red lips curled up into a malicious grin. "Perhaps you just weren't her favorite child." The necromancer stopped and then turned back towards them. "You and your little brother weren't the only children she's had."

"...Eh?"

Alice stared at the back of the woman's head as Krylin simply smirked and continued down the stairway.

She was confused. What did she mean by that?

A clear crispness could be smelled as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Alice could see a light at the end of a shorter corridor they were now walking in.

"I'm sure you're well aware of this place," Krylin commented. "As it turns out, you were not the seed that Eternus was looking for. Such a pity..."

As soon as they reached the end of the corridor and was thrust into the chamber containing the massive World Tree, Alice could feel Dante giving her wrists one last squeeze before letting go.

In a blink of an eye, Alice saw Dante step past her and draw out his hunting knife.

However, just before he could take a stab at Krylin, she turned around and raised her staff.

"_Ugh_!" Dante froze right in front of her, his body as stiff as a board.

Krylin raised an eyebrow as she smiled slyly. "Did you really think you could get me with such a rudimentary attack, Dante? My body my be failing me, but you have to give me more credit than that..."

She swung down her staff and Dante flew back a few feet, sliding on the ground on his back.

"Dante!" Alice cried out, turning back to run up to him.

As he got up onto his knees, several dark purple chains wrapped themselves around his wrists and and abdomen, binding him down.

"We must complete the soul transfer, Dante."

Alice knelt down beside the archer and pulled on the chains, trying to free him.

Krylin laughed at her futile attempt. "It's no use."

Dante glared up at the mage, but immediately, he blinked in surprise when he felt Alice's arms wrap around him. He turned his head down to face her. "Alice..."

"Oh? What is this?" the purple haired woman giggled against her hand.

"I won't let you take him," Alice declared, tightening her arms around him. She kept her eyes steadily on Krylin, not backing down.

"Is that a challenge?"

"If that's what it takes to protect him."

Dante furrowed his brow and whispered to Alice. "Idiot...why are you doing this?"

Alice didn't answer him. Instead, she stood up on her feet and drew out her polearm. She stepped in between Krylin and Dante, protectively. She finally addressed him, keeping her back towards him still.

"Dante, shouldn't you know the answer to that already?"

"What?"

She smiled, keeping her eyes on Krylin. "I promised to save you."

Dante parted his lips as soon as Alice drew her Eviscerator back and lunged towards Krylin, poised for attack.

"Alice!"

* * *

><p>Ivan clenched his teeth as he held down the triggers to his two guns as hard as he could. Dozens upon dozens of bullets were shot out towards Isabelle, who was also shooting out the same amount of bullets.<p>

Both corsairs' attacks met in the middle, with bullets bouncing off each other.

He flinched when he felt one of her bullets fly past his face, scrapping up against his cheek, similarly, one of his bullets flew past Isabelle's cheek, producing the same type of scrape.

The two of them finally stopped their barrage of bullets at the same time. Smoke floated out of the hot barrels of their guns.

"Why do you fight so hard for Krylin?" Ivan asked, watching the female corsair wipe away at the thin line of blood that flowed from the cut on her cheek.

Without answering him, Isabelle raised her guns again just as her wound healed over. With the same level of intensity, Isabelle fired off a stream of bullets at him.

Ivan rolled off to the side and fired off a few rounds at her, hitting her directly in the stomach.

The blond staggered on her feet in pain, her attacks ceasing. Isabelle grit her teeth as blood poured from her bullet wounds.

"You wouldn't understand..." she growled out, removing her hand from her stomach as the wounds healed over immediately. "You and I are on different levels."

Ivan saw her raised her guns again to fire off another stream of bullets. He got a running start towards her just as she pulled the triggers.

Just before the bullets could hit him, Ivan dodged them by going down low, sliding on the ground. He gave a sweeping kick underneath her feet, knocking her over. However, before he could put a bullet in her head, she rolled back onto her hands and flipped over, kicking him in the chin in the process.

Ivan, rattled by the impact to the head, staggered back.

"You are the prototype." Isabelle fired off a round, to which Ivan blocked with his gun. "And I am the real experiment."

The male corsair blocked off another bullet, but he wasn't ready for Isabelle to come charging at him physically.

"There is clearly a difference between you and me." Isabelle hit him across the face with the butt of her gun.

Before Ivan could have any time to recover, he received a kick to the stomach.

"You can't even dream of competing with me." Isabelle set her jaw and spun around swiftly, delivering a back kick across his face. As soon as Ivan fell to the ground, she stepped on his arms, digging the heels of her brown boots into his skin and restraining him, and pointed one of her guns right against his head.

Ivan felt parts of his face throbbing, angry red bruises forming from her blows. Despite this, he managed to still ask, "you aren't going to answer my question?"

Isabelle threw away her second gun and used her free hand to wrap it around his neck.

He kept a steady gaze on her even though she tightened her grip.

"...You don't know why you fight for Krylin...do you?" he whispered. Ivan saw her eyelid twitch slightly before she pushed him down even more. "You even seemed to hold Dr. Everard in such high regards...and yet you killed her in cold blood..."

He could hear the rattling noise of her Burning Hell gun beside his head as her hands shook.

"You keep emphasizing that I'm the failed prototype and that you're superior...is that what you really think-?"

"It's obvious," she whispered, pressing the gun tightly to his head.

Ivan ignored the dull pain on his arms from where her heels were digging into him and looked straight into her emerald green eyes as he asked softly, "are you jealous of me...?"

Isabelle faltered, her legs buckling as she lowered herself so that she was straddling Ivan across his chest.

Her chest heaved up and down erratically, as if she was panicking, but her facial expression remained impassive. "Y-You're wrong..."

"You only know how to take orders and obey...you don't know how to think for yourself; you_ can't_ think for yourself."

Her lips twitched.

"You don't know how to feel and that's why you hate me...right? You wish you could have felt something when you killed Dr. Everard and even now...you wish you could understand why you're doing all this. You hate that I have feelings and you don't."

Isabelle set her teeth and clicked her gun as she held it against his head. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, a high pitched whistling sound entered the area.

In a blink of an eye, Ivan saw a bright yellow arrow shoot through her head, impaling it. A small amount of glowing yellow feathers bursted around her at the point of impact.

Lifelessly, Isabelle swayed on top of him before falling over to the side.

Ivan got out from underneath her, slowly untangling himself from her legs. He looked over in the direction from where the arrow came from and saw Minna there, holding her Thorns staff in one hand with the other pulled back as if she was wielding a bow and arrow.

She lowered her hands, the artificial Angelic Ray bow disappearing.

"Minna-"

"Ivan!" The cleric rushed up to him and immediately threw her arms around his shoulders. Minna sniffled as she nuzzled his chest. "Thank goodness you're okay! I was so worried!"

He lowered his green eyes slightly, happy that she went out of her way to find him, but at the same time concerned about her safety.

They both snapped back to reality when they heard Isabelle moving slowly, recovering from her being shot through the head.

"Minna," Ivan hurriedly whispered to her, "hurry, we need to-"

_BANG!_

The cleric screamed when she heard the sudden loud gunshot. It horrified her even more when she saw Ivan had been shot through the shoulder. "Ivan!" she cried, holding him as he writhed in pain. Her red eyes looked over at Isabelle, who had a gun in her hand.

Her head wound was still bleeding, unable to heal as quickly as it normally would.

Just as Isabelle squeezed the trigger again, Minna captured Ivan in her arms and teleported away just as the bullet was fired.

They reappeared just a short distance away, hidden in the cover of the trees and brush.

Minna laid the gunslinger down on the mossy ground and tended to his wound, holding her hands over the injury. She flinched when she saw Ivan in pain. "I-I'm sorry, Ivan. Please bear with it. I need to take out the bullet."

Doing as he was told, Ivan held his lips tightly together trying not to make a sound as the cleric pulled out the bullet with her healing magic. As soon as it was out, he sighed in relief when he felt the soothing tingles her healing brought him.

"Minna..."

"Hm?"

"Why are you here?" Ivan croaked out, feeling his wound heal over.

The female cleric looked away from him, knowing that she had done something wrong. "I just wanted to find you. You left without a word!"

_"Wasting all your time on that little cleric...she's the reason why you betrayed Krylin and she intends on making her pay."_

What Isabelle said to him back in Orbis Park echoed inside of Ivan's head.

"Ivan...?" Minna somberly held her hands in her lap as soon as she was done healing him. "...should I have not come?"

He noticed the sad tone her voice carried and immediately he was stricken with guilt. "No," he whispered, sitting up, "I...didn't mean it like that. I just-" He faltered, debating within himself if he should tell her about what Isabelle said.

However, before he could make a decision, he heard the thundering sound of a dozen bullets hitting the trees near them.

The wood cracked and splintered as both Ivan and Minna took cover.

As soon as the hail of bullets stopped, Ivan looked over the bush and saw Isabelle standing there in the small clearing, bending over and picking up her second gun from the ground. She seemed to be scanning the surrounding coolly with her eyes.

"We need to leave-"

"No."

Ivan stared at the cleric and then widened his eyes as she got up onto her feet. "Minna-!" he whispered, grabbing her wrist.

"We ran away from her too much. When will it end?"

He stared in shock as Minna walked out from their hiding place, revealing herself to the female corsair.

Isabelle turned around at the rustling noise and narrowed her eyes at the sight of the cleric. "Did he send you out to fight? Is he finally aware that he's no match for me?"

"No," Minna replied, smiling softly. "Ivan is more than capable of fighting you. But..." She stabbed her Thorns staff into the soft mossy ground and closed her eyes. A powerful blue energy surged around her and encapsulated her before disappearing. Minna reopened her eyes and held her arms out as her staff floated out of the ground by itself. "Ivan is someone important to me and I can't forgive you for trying to hurt him."

The blond corsair raised her two guns at Minna just as the bishop let the holy energy flow through her body.

The thundering sound of Isabelle's guns rapidly firing bullet after bullet rang out. At that precise moment, Minna concentrated her magic and shouted, "Genesis!"

* * *

><p>Alice winced as she was thrown back by a pulsating energy produced by Krylin. She grit her teeth as she slid on the ground with her feet, the soles of her off-white boots screeching as the rubber burned off.<p>

"I do wish you wouldn't continue fighting. Unless you want to destroy Victoria Island along with everyone else here..." Krylin turned her head coolly over to the World Tree.

Ignoring what the necromancer had to say, Alice narrowed her cyan colored eyes and let out a yell as she rushed forth towards her.

Krylin smirked and raised her hand to produce a large mana guard shield, blocking Alice's attack.

Alice held her polearm against the shield tightly, determined to break through. Seeing as how her defenses weren't breaking down, Alice set her jaw and decided to make use of _that._

"Oh?" Krylin asked when she saw bloody rose thorns rise out from the ground beneath Alice and wrap themselves around her legs. "So you're using that ability again?"

Alice cried out in pain briefly when the thorns plunged into her thighs, injecting themselves directly into her veins and drawing blood. Despite this, Alice kept her weapon against Krylin's shield.

"Alice! Stop!" Dante shouted from behind her, struggling against Krylin's chains. He saw Alice breaking through Krylin's shield, but immediately she was propelled back by another wave of dark magic. "Alice!"

The spearman flew back against one of the walls in the large chamber and slid to the ground. Her whole body was wracked in pain as she fought to get back up.

"Idiot! Why are you-!?"

"Dante, just shut up!" Alice yelled, trembling as she supported herself with her polearm. She slowly rose up onto her feet and looked up to face Krylin. "I told you I'd save you, didn't I?"

"You already did-!"

"Then why are you still captured? Clearly I haven't done enough." Alice raised her hand to wipe away at a bit of blood that ran down from the corner of her lips. The heavy end of her polearm dragged across the ground. She couldn't even muster up the strength to lift it up.

"Still moving huh?" Krylin scowled as she raised her hand again. Another pulsating wave hit Alice and the lithe warrior fell back.

Dante grit his teeth when he saw her get up yet again. He was angry, frustrated with her and how things were working out. "Why are you so stubborn!? You're done proving yourself to me!"

"Stupid Dante," Alice whispered, dragged her feet, limping as she made her way slowly towards Krylin. "You're the stubborn one."

Krylin pursed her lips and raised her hands one final time. "Death Wave!"

"Alice!" Dante shouted, just as the spearman took the attack head on. His breath faltered when he saw her being tossed back and thrown to the ground violently. It was almost as if she were a rag doll, being tossed and thrown around lifelessly. "...No!" He struggled, pulling and yanking at the chains that held him down. "Alice!" he called out desperately. His red eyes filled with growing despair when he saw her unmoving, her eyes shut and with her arms spread out loosely.

"Damn it! Open your eyes!" His face contorted into that of torn sorrow when she didn't move. "Alice!" Dante clenched his fists and brought them down to the floor harshly. His voice was hoarse and on the threat of pure tears as he continuously shouted her name, each time with diminishing hope.

"Foolish girl..." Krylin muttered, lowering her hand and letting it drop to her side. She smirked when she turned her attention back towards Dante. "Dante...?" she cooed, walking up to him slowly. "Do you want to save her?"

He hung his head, worn out from calling out to Alice. His throat was sore and his voice was ragged.

"Hm? Dante?" Krylin smiled as she reached down to cup his chin, forcing him to face her, but he retaliated by sharply turning his head away. Her hazy purple eyes narrowed dangerously at him, not pleased with his failure to comply.

"...Get the fuck away from me," he growled, facing her. His glare seemed to contain thousands of daggers that pierced through Krylin.

"You still remain defiant-" Krylin slapped him hard across the face, scratching him slightly with her long, sharp nails, enough to leave an angry red abrasion on his pale cheek. "-if you cooperate and be a good little boy, I'll heal your precious Alice."

Dante's cheek stung and started to throb, but he ignored it and remained silent to Krylin's offer.

She set her jaw in frustration and hissed, "you-!"

At that moment, a large ball of fire crashed down on the ground beside the necromancer. She whipped her head up to where the object came from and shouted, "who dares to-!?"

Dante raised his head slightly and blinked in confusion when he saw Xin and Lia run into the World Tree chamber. "Xin!" he exclaimed under his breath, surprised to see the crusader there.

"How did you get in!?" Krylin demanded. "Much less find my castle?"

Lia smiled as she raised her Evil Wings staff. "There's an advantage to being blind. It makes it easier to find things that are hidden from us in the first place. As for your ratty little door, it seems as though its weak towards a crusader's attack."

Instantly, a large, red-orange arcane circle appeared in front of Lia as she shouted, "Fire Demon!"

Three large fireballs flew towards Krylin, who tapped her red-black staff on the ground in order to teleport away in time. She reappeared at the other side of the wide bridge and grit her teeth as she glanced over at Dante.

"Don't bother. Your fight is with me," Lia said authoritatively, stepping forward and shooting off more fire spells at the dark cleric.

"Xin!" Dante said as the crusader ran up to him and tried to free him from the chains. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story...and a complicated one too. Not enough time to tell it unfortunately," Xin replied, all with a boyish grin on his face. "Be careful," he ordered as he stood up and brought his Doombringer up over his head before he broke the chains on the bowman's wrists.

Dante stood up, rubbing his sore wrists as he quietly thanked Xin before rushing off towards Alice.

"Alice," he whispered shakily as he fell to his knees beside her. He took her up into his arms and with a trembling hand he cleared away her soft blue bangs away from her eyes. "Idiot...why don't you know how to give up?"

Dante, unsure of what to do, placed his fingers against her neck and only felt a very faint pulse. With a hasty breath, he tried doing the same action he did earlier by placing his hand on her chest. Only this time, no dark aura surrounded his hand and nothing happened. Alice wasn't being healed and he wasn't in any pain.

"Damn it, come on...!" He held his hand there again, with no success.

The same feeling of fear and helplessness that he felt years back when Alice was infected by Fleischer's poison, filled him again.

"Alice...!" Dante said in a harsh whisper. "Open your eyes!"

* * *

><p>It was a white space.<p>

Alice looked all around, curious as to where she was. "Wasn't I...somewhere else?" she muttered out loud.

"...Really? You've been here the entire time."

She flinched, startled by the sudden voice she never expected to hear. "Who's there?" she asked, turning all around and seeing no one.

The male voice she heard sounded familiar...but it still sounded foreign to her at the same time.

"I helped you before Alice...and I can help you again."

All she saw before she could react were the fluttering wings of a red butterfly. After that, she felt the familiar pair arms wrap around her and bring her in for a gentle embrace. Her mouth opened up, in realization of this familiarity. However, before she could say anything, the man behind her seemed to speak for her.

"This isn't a dream, Alice. This was never a dream. These aren't hallucinations either."

"Eh...?"

"I managed to reach you before...back when you fought Krylin for the first time. Did you feel it? My power..." He took hold of her thin wrist and ran his thumb over her vessels. "...flowing through your veins...awakening your Dragon Knight abilities."

Alice suddenly felt frightened by the man behind her, speaking as though he was capable of controlling her.

"Yes...I tried reaching out to you numerous times after that, but you hardly responded."

"Wh-Who are you?" Alice whipped around, shoving the man away. "Show me-!" Her speech faltered when she saw the man was the split image of Dante. "Who...?" she whispered. "Are you the Beholder spirit?"

He had slightly longer and messier black hair than Dante, with strange markings covering one side of his face. That same side held a golden red colored eye that seemed to shine with a certain brilliance. "No...that spirit resides within you," he answered her.

"Then-?"

"I am the spirit you need to tame." He took hold of her arm and pulled her in. "I'm the Berserker spirit...that resides within Dante."

"Huh?"

"Will you use my power?" he asked.

"We-Well-!" Before Alice could answer him, she felt his lips on top of hers. She widened her blue eyes for a moment before her eyelids slowly drooped.

Right away, she went limp in his arms and was unconscious.

"I'll awaken the Beholder spirit inside of you..." he whispered, holding his hand on top of her chest. "So that you can realize your true potential as a knight of darkness."

Just as he set her down on the ground, his lips curled up into a maniacal grin.

"Time to wake up...Alice."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Brace yourselves, the long ass author's note is coming_**_._ **

_Okay, so it seems as though I'll need to clear things up again. _

_Yes, in my story there can only be a very small number of Dark Knights. Not all Dragon Knights become Dark Knights; you can only become a Dark Knight by birth, but it can only be awakened fully by negative emotions, which Alice experienced after the Aegis retreated from Victoria Island. _

_As for the spirits that were introduced in this chapter, the Berserker spirit is inside of Dante and the Beholder spirit is inside of Alice. The Berserker spirit is what gave Alice that sudden boost in power back when she fought Krylin in the first story. As you guys know, the Berserker skill in-game allowed for higher weapon attack (I believe) if your HP is down significantly low. (Forgive me if this is horribly wrong. I haven't played Maple in a few months now so I'm getting all this info off hiddenstreet and basil.) _

_I do try to utilize the skills that exist in-game and sometimes interpret them into my own "meanings" to fit into my story. Someone called me out on the similar topic back in the first Aegis and I guess I was being vague or they just wanted to pick apart my story for whatever reason. Jealous prick. :p _

_Anyways, by "interpreting" and "fitting" the skills into my story, I mean that some skills are changed, but they keep their root meaning. For example, Magic Guard. The same person told me why Krylin wasn't using "Magic Guard" like any sensible mage. Derp alert, I thought I made it clear, but Magic Guard in my story is a clear mana shield. I don't fancy the idea of a tiny fairy sprinkling its shit all over you giving you some semi-god mode defense. It may look cute in-game, but in written word? I'll pass. _

_So yes, Krylin was indeed using Mana Guard during the final battle in the first story. While most other mages have simple shields, Krylin can create a larger shield that can create a dome around her to protect her from all sides. Mages of stronger magic can do this, like Froid did in earlier chapters. _

_Well, that's also the reason why I started to use more of them shouting out their skill names before attacking. Mainly because of said jealous prick being retarded enough to think Krylin wasn't using mana guard. I don't really like making them say the skill names out loud. I mean...this isn't Sailor Moon or Pokemon or some shit, folks. But in order to prevent some dumbass from calling me out on small stuff like that, I'll just deal with it. Although I have no problems with making my magician characters say their skill names out loud. I mean...all mages need to chant a spell before casting one, amirite?_

_Other skills that were modified for my story were Hero's Will and Scarecrow. There are probably more, but those two are the main big ones._

_God, I got sidetracked. ANYHOO~ Yeah, so the Beholder and Berserker skills for the Dark Knight are modified in my story. Just slightly, but modified nonetheless. _

_So the next chapter! Eternus will finally show up again and more information about the Berserker and Beholder will be revealed by another character~ _

_...I just realized that the last line to this chapter was unintentionally referencing Alice in Wonderland. -me gusta-_

_Thank you for the reviews! I love you all very much! (You guys might hate me for what will happen in the next two-three chapters) BUT YEAH. THANKS FOR READING AND I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR FEEDBACK ~_


	28. Declaration

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 28 - Declaration**

"What's wrong, boy?"

Sean quickly walked up to his pet husky, seeing it bark while excitedly running around in circles. The young boy quirked an eyebrow up at the dog's odd behavior and looked all around the damp forest that surrounded Sleepywood.

"Did he find something, Sean?" Froid asked, catching up to them.

"I don't know. I think so...but I don't really see anything." Sean mumbled, kneeling down to pet the excited husky.

"Hm..." Froid let his blue eyes roam around the uneven, swampy terrain. They came to rest at a rather large patch of moss that seemed to have places where it was uprooted and disturbed. "No..." he quietly commented, stepping forward. "I believe Dante is right. There is something here."

"Eh?"

"Sean, please step back."

The young warrior did as he was told and curiously watched the ice mage as he raised his blue-gold Elemental staff and shot out a simple ice spell. It hurtled through the air before it made contact with something.

"Wow..." Sean whispered softly when he saw the ice remain in the air as if it was stuck on a wall.

"So...it's a simple cloaking system, huh?" Froid smiled slyly as he stepped back before slamming his hands down on the ground.

Ice splintered and began to form underneath his hands and quickly spread up the invisible wall. All the while, Sean watched in awe as the ice crystals lined the walls and took on the appearance of a large doorway.

"The castle is invisible," Froid stated. "I suspect that Krylin placed some sort of a cloaking spell on it and everyone else that steps inside." He got back up onto his feet and stepped back, smiling at his satisfactory work on discovering the entrance. "But..." He held out his hand, feeling the residue mana that emitted from the cloaked castle. "Krylin seems to be getting weaker. Perhaps that's why my ice spell could discover the door...-"

"Mr. Hermes! Watch out!" Sean exclaimed when he saw a large figure behind the archmage. They had come up so quickly that he could barely make out who it was before there was a thundering crash.

When the warrior could get a better look, he saw that it was huge, burly man with a long, flailing, dark red coat.

"Magic Guard, huh?" the man asked, grinning when he saw Froid turning around to face him.

The ice mage saw the man outside of his clear mana shield and saw that his fist had impacted the shield, but not enough to break it. "Of course," he calmly said, "it would have been foolish of me to not be prepared when coming into enemy territory. I was actually wondering when some of Krylin's underlings would show up."

"Heh," the burly man grinned as he jumped back. "You are one amusing guy, I'll give you that...but-"

Sean felt two hands grab his arms tightly.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. He widened his eyes when he saw that it was the two red head archers that he had met in El Nath.

"Fleischer, you didn't forget about him, did you?" Saya asked lazily.

She suddenly let out a yelp when she felt a sharp bite to her ankle. Her red eyes narrowed dangerously when she saw a black and white husky growling as it bit down harder.

"Let go! You mangy little mutt!"

"Dante!" Sean exclaimed happily, seeing the dog come to his rescue.

It was then that a powerful blast of energy shot out and threw the dog into a tree. It whimpered as it fell to the ground in pain. Sean gasped in shock as he shouted loudly, "Dante!"

Fleischer lowered the hand that had shot out the force of energy and said in a disgusted voice, "I told Krylin that you two would only be getting in my way."

Saya's temper flared as she shouted back, "shut up you stinky old man! Kaito and I could beat you to a pulp any day!"

As they were caught up in their argument, Froid casted several ice chains and caught all three of them in his hold.

"Sean!" the archmage shouted at the warrior, who was now released. "Get inside!"

"But-!"

"Now! Just keep running and be careful! I'll be right behind you!"

Even though he felt as if Froid was easily out numbered, Sean closed his eyes tightly and crushed any feelings of hesitation as he ran past the ice mage and towards the large doors that were still encased in ice.

He released his Tavar axe from its hold and brought it back before swinging it hard against the door. The ice splintered, but it didn't crack and the door remained shut.

"M-Mr. Hermes!" Sean cried out, scared to see that his attack didn't work.

"You _have_ to break the door, Sean!" Froid grit his teeth when he saw Fleischer breaking off the ice chain. "You want to save Meg, don't you!?"

Sean knew this all too well. He wanted to save Meg even if it was the last thing he'll ever do. Setting his jaw, Sean stood back and let out a loud yell as he swung back the heavy axe and directly at the door.

Froid smiled fondly when he heard the loud sound of the door breaking open behind him. "Good work, Sean," he whispered as he gave a strong pull on the ice chains he held in his hands, bringing in the three that were trapped. He raised his elemental staff, hoping to land a hit, but he was too slow for Fleischer.

"Big mistake," he said, chuckling before punching Froid in the abdomen.

Sean cringed when he heard the platoon leader's cry of pain, but he didn't turn back or stop. He did as he was told, which was to run away.

_"I'll come back for you Mr. Hermes...I promise!" _

* * *

><p>"...Alice...?" Dante breathed out when he saw the spearman blankly open up her eyes.<p>

She didn't look at him, nor acknowledge him as her hands twitched and her body came alive.

The archer stared at her when he saw black smoke begin to waft out from her arms, legs, and torso. Thinking that he was the cause of this, he quickly let go of her, but the smoke did not cease. Instead, it grew thicker.

"...Alice! Answer me!" he shouted, shaking her by the shoulders.

Alice continued to ignore him, as if she were stuck in a trance-like state.

Much to his shock and amazement, she slowly floated up until her feet barely touched the ground. Dante backed up a little before whispering, "Alice?"

Then, she suddenly widened her blue eyes and let out a shriek of pain that echoed throughout the whole World Tree chamber, even ceasing Krylin's fight with Lia and Xin.

All three of them turned towards Alice and Dante and witnessed the scene unfolding in front of them in awe.

"Alice!" Dante tried to reach out for her, but he winced in pain before his hands could touch her. He pulled back and saw the black smoke violently encasing her in a swirling black ball of dark energy.

Then suddenly, the ball of smoke fell to the ground and created a loud explosion.

The force of it sent Dante flying back, but he landed just barely on his feet. He waited until the rushing wind stopped before he moved his arm out of his face.

"What in the world-?" Lia whispered just as the debris cleared.

"Alice..." Xin whispered worriedly, waiting for the smoke to clear.

Dante furrowed his brow in worry and concern when he saw her silhouette shrouded in the clearing smoke. When he could finally see her vaguely, he hesitated on actually approaching her.

Her long blue hair was tied up into a high ponytail, with a thick black metal plate acting like an oversized hair pin. It had gnarled black horns sticking out from it with black chains hanging from them. Her previous armor and clothes were gone and in their place was a two piece black plated armor, sleek and with two metal dragon heads on her shoulders to act as shoulder plates.

Her footsteps clanked and sounded heavy because of the metal, armored boots she now acquired.

Her blue eyes were trained on Krylin and the necromancer noticed this.

She didn't seem too fearful of Alice's new form like everyone else in the chamber was. Instead, she welcomed it by grinning.

"So! You decided to defeat me once and for all?"

Alice didn't answer and she didn't bother to stop when Lia and Xin tried to vocally stop her. It was as if her body was moving on its own.

"Oh?" Krylin slowly realized that Alice was unresponsive to any outside stimuli. "Don't tell me you're still unconscious-?" She stopped when Alice swung her polearm and shot out a wave of dark energy.

The purple haired woman conjured up a shield, blocking the attack. "So...you think you could defeat me like this?" Krylin chuckled amusedly. "Fine then...I believe it's time to settle this once and for all, little wench."

Alice narrowed her blue eyes.

"You'll regret trying to challenge me," Krylin said darkly as she suddenly teleported and reappeared behind Alice immediately.

"Alice-!" Xin cried out, but he was too late.

Krylin smirked as she placed her hand on Alice's armor covered back and casted a spell. "Dark Wave!"

Alice whipped around just as the spell tossed her back. She flew off and violently crashed into the walls.

Chortling as if she were teasing her, Krylin played with her red wood staff and stepped towards Alice. "You must have a death wish-" The mage's eyes widened when she suddenly felt the cool, sharp metal of Alice's Eviscerator against her neck.

In a blink of an eye, Krylin teleported away just as Alice made a motion to cut through her.

When Krylin reappeared behind the spearman, she angrily glared at her, holding a hand to her neck in response to the bleeding cut.

Alice calmly turned around to face Krylin again, her pure black armor making soft clanking sounds as she did so.

"Oh?" Krylin's lips curled up into a sneer. "Don't tell me you're unconscious again. Didn't I tell you last time? Fight me fairly-!"

In a display of true speed, Alice suddenly reappeared in front of Krylin and wrapped her large, clawed hands around her fragile neck. Easily, Alice lifted the mage up off the ground and spoke.

"I'll fight you however I want." Her voice sounded distorted and mixed with a male voice.

Dante watched as Alice easily threw Krylin off to the side, with great strength. He was in awe at how almost inhumanly stronger and faster she had become.

"Alice..." he whispered, sensing something was wrong even when Alice didn't show it. "Alice!" Dante ran towards her, past Xin and Lia, who tried to stop him.

"Dante!" Lia cried out. "Get away from her! I'm sensing something wrong about her-!"

Alice turned her head sharply to look at him as he approached her. Immediately, Dante's steps faltered and his breath hitched in his throat when he saw the deathly gaze she presented him. Her blue eyes seemed dead, but at the same time, had a desolate danger within them.

"...Alice...are you-?"

Before Dante could finish talking, she grabbed a hold of his arm.

He winced and tried to pull away from her when he felt her clawed hand grip his wrist painfully tight. "Alice-come on, don't do this again!" he whispered under his breath.

"...die..."

"Huh?"

Dante widened his red eyes in fear when he felt her pull on his arm, bringing him in towards her even though he resisted. She had indeed gotten much stronger in terms of physical strength.

"Don't do this Alice," Dante whispered when he saw her bring back her Eviscerator, intending to ram it through his body.

"What if she wants to do this?" Alice smirked as she gave Dante's arm a powerful yank, bringing him forcefully.

Just as he was pulled in, Dante clenched his teeth and took hold of the blue pole on the Eviscerator. Holding it back just for a split second, Dante managed to slip around the polearm, avoiding the jab, and end up next to Alice.

She let go of him because of how he maneuvered himself, but immediately, she stepped back around and swung her polearm at him.

Dante dodged it by jumping up. He then skillfully landed on the large end of her polearm just for a brief second before kicking off of it, flipping backwards, and landing on his feet a short distance away from Alice.

"Alice...I know you're in there somewhere."

She scowled as she sharply swung down her polearm and calmly walked over to him, slowly. "Do I need to repeat myself? I'm Alice."

Dante furrowed his brow in confusion. "Then why...why are you attacking me!?"

"...Because I hate you."

"For what!?" Dante exclaimed just as he rolled out of the way to dodge an overhead swing by Alice. He grit his teeth when he saw the deep hole Alice made by that simple swing. She wasn't holding back at all. That was intended to hurt him.

"Do you have any idea how much you hurt me since we met?" Alice turned towards him and narrowed her blue eyes at him. "This is just payback."

* * *

><p>Blasts of holy magic flew around endlessly, creating large explosions here and there throughout the usually quiet forest of Sleepywood.<p>

Minna trained her gaze on the gunslinger before her as she casted waves upon waves of Genesis. It was physically and mentally draining, but Minna knew that she couldn't just stop. She had to defeat Isabelle. She just had to.

The strawberry blond stepped back, ceasing Genesis and casting a new spell.

"Infinity!" she shouted, holding her staff directly parallel to her body. A soft blue glow engulfed and surrounded her body, but before the spell could be complete, Isabelle used this opportunity to shoot off a round at the unarmed cleric.

Minna cried out in pain when she felt a bullet graze her neck, but it still left a sizable wound.

"Minna!" Ivan shouted, getting up on his feet and running up to her.

"No!" Her usually soft, meek voice was now hoarse and ragged as she was further spent of energy. "Don't come any closer! You've fought enough, Ivan!"

"Minna..."

"You've fought for me enough..." Minna whispered, wiping away at the tears that were brimming her eyes.

Ivan watched as she casted another powerful Genesis spell. His fists were clenched tightly as he felt a sort of anger bubble up inside of him. "Why...?" he whispered under his breath, unable to bear to watch Minna one more second as she pushed herself further.

Minna cried out as her Genesis spell failed to produce itself again. Her small body trembled as the physical strain of casting such a powerful spell wracked her body.

The male corsair grit his teeth when he saw Isabelle, who was also badly beaten up, ready her guns.

Isabelle fired her guns and the bullets flew towards Minna. At the last second, Ivan ran in between the two women and deflected the bullets with his gun.

"Ivan!" Minna shouted when she saw him standing in front of her. "Please run away! I-!"

"Is this what all humans do!?" Ivan shouted in frustration.

"Huh?"

"Rushing in so thoughtlessly into something you can't handle, risking your life for another person so recklessly-!"

Minna's round red eyes shimmered with tears as she stared up at him. "Ivan..."

Ivan paused for a moment before a sudden dawning came over him. He chuckled softly, wryly, as he came to this realization. "That's what I've been doing all this time...haven't I? Here I am... criticizing you for it."

The cleric felt the tears freely flow out of her eyes as she saw him turn his head slightly to look back at her.

In a rare, soft smile, Ivan whispered, "I'm sorry Minna. I wanted to do good...but I only ended up leaving you behind." He turned around fully and held out his hand to her. "I won't do that anymore."

"I-Ivan..." Minna sniffled, reaching out for his hand.

However, as she did so, Minna noticed that off to the side, behind Ivan, Isabelle readied her guns and squeezed the trigger.

Her red eyes widened as she reacted solely on reflexes.

"Ivan-!"

_BANG!_

* * *

><p>Dante held his Dark Arund tightly as he pulled back the string and shot of a stream of arrows at Alice. He quickly stopped it and jumped out of the way, dodging her overhead swing.<p>

"Alice, wake up!" he shouted.

"I am Alice." She enunciated, swinging her polearm down and walking up to him.

Dante rolled off to the side, dodging a wave of dark energy that she shot out. "Idiot! Don't let the Beholder spirit control you!"

Alice set her jaw and her lips turned down into a scowl. "Don't, call me that!" She let out a yell as she charged towards him.

From the sidelines, both Xin and Lia looked at the two fighting.

"We need to go help him!" Xin exclaimed, taking up his Doombringer.

"No," Lia stated, holding the crusader back. "We'd only get in the way and there's a chance we might injure Alice. Dante can hold his own."

There was a loud boom and Xin immediately turned his head in the direction of the sound. He saw Dante up against the wall, the rock behind him breaking apart and crumbling as he slid to the ground. Hastily he asked the blind mage, "are you sure about that?"

Lia remained silent.

"We must focus on our own fight."

"Huh?"

She turned back around and motioned over to Krylin, who had finally recovered from Alice's attack. Her thin eyebrows were lowered in a burning rage and her red lips were turned into an ugly scowl.

When the necromancer looked over to where Alice and Dante were fighting, Xin stepped in her line of vision and raised his Doombringer at her.

"Your opponent is right here."

Krylin chuckled dryly and brushed back her thin purple hair. "Is everyone in the Aegis this defiant?" She conjured up a dark storm of energy in front of her, preparing for an attack.

"You should just quietly submit to me. I am the one with power here!"

* * *

><p>Dante felt his body ache in pain as he laid there slumped up against the crumbling wall. He fought to get up when he saw Alice land on the ground in front of him.<p>

"Alice..." he whispered, still feeling like the wind inside of him was knocked out by her powerful blow.

The dark knight stared down at him impassively before stabbing down at his neck. The two points of the Eviscerator sunk into the hard rock, trapping Dante.

"How does it feel?" Alice asked, pushing down on her weapon more, pushing the polearm deeper into the rock and closer to his neck.

Dante now felt the sharp edge of the blade up against his Adam's apple, "What are you talking about...?"

"It hurts doesn't it? Being pushed down..." Alice grit her teeth as she tightly held the blue pole of her weapon. "...especially by the one person you want to get close to."

He flinched when he felt the blade cut his skin slightly, drawing a small amount of blood.

"Being left alone..."

"Alice..."

"Don't even try to say you understand! Especially when you were the one that hurt me like this!" Alice screamed, pushing the weapon. "Right when I joined the Aegis, all you said was 'leave me alone' or 'you're not good enough' or 'you're weak.' What did I ever do to you!? You stupid, arrogant piece of scum!"

Dante grunted in pain when he felt her kick him hard in the stomach.

Alice grinned in satisfaction when she saw him weakly cough out blood. "Oh, are you okay, Dante?" she asked teasingly, pushing the weapon closer and further slicing his neck deeper.

Her grin faded slowly and her grip on her weapon loosened up as she silently asked, "why aren't you stopping me? At least resist...I'm trying to kill you, stupid Dante."

Dante coughed again and whispered hoarsely, "these are your true feelings, isn't it?"

Alice widened her eyes and then backed off a little. "What are you saying...?"

"I'm sorry."

Alice's grip on her weapon tightened, to the point where her hands shook.

Dante raised his hand and placed it on the cool metal of the Eviscerator. "I don't think I ever really apologized for doing all those things to you." He slowly pushed the polearm away from him, removing it from the hard rock behind him.

The spearman trembled as she slowly let go of the polearm, letting it drop to the ground in a loud clank.

Slowly standing up, Dante stared at her and whispered, "I'm sorry, Alice."

Her hazy blue eyes trembled in confusion when he brought her in for a hug. Finally she moved her hands up to his shoulders and growled lowly and animalistically, trying to pry him away.

However, Dante remained where he was, tightening his hold around her. When her shoving became more violent and aggressive, Dante buried his face in her hair and whispered, "I won't leave you alone. I'll accept all of your negative emotions, Alice."

The young woman began to scream and claw at his back, only to be stopped momentarily by Dante.

He grabbed a hold of her wrist and pulled away slightly.

"Control yourself Alice...or else you'll never be able to tame me."

Her blue eyes widened and Dante wondered if he had reached a breakthrough point. He kept a steady gaze on her, staring directly into her eyes.

"The woman that I acknowledged as my martyr isn't this weak. She's strong enough to overcome this."

Dante felt her body grow rigid in his arms and he slowly loosened his hold on her wrist. His hand trailed down her armored forearm and then made contact with her soft, exposed arm. He kept his hand there, feeling her flesh was icy cold.

She flinched at the feeling of his warm hand and turned her head slightly so that she could look down at it.

The archer brought her in close, at least to what extent her armor let him, and he leaned his forehead against hers. In a heated whisper, he told her sharply, "I hate weak women. The only one that I love is strong, strong enough to get through this."

Alice trembled.

Dante bowed his head and held her tightly as he whispered into her ear, "wake up Alice." He kept his eyes closed until he felt her arms slowly wrapping around him, returning the hug.

"Speak for yourself, Dante." Alice smiled against his shoulder before pulling away to look up at him. "I hate weak men also."

He chuckled at her response and asked, "what does that imply?"

The spearman held out her sharp clawed hand and smirked before answering. "If you ever get weaker, I won't acknowledge you at all. Please," she started, her voice gentler, but at the same time firm, "lend me your strength, Dante. The Berserker spirit inside of you..."

Smiling, Dante placed his hand on top of hers and gently wrapped his calloused fingers around her hand. "You don't need to ask me twice."

Just as a dark energy began to form between them, an echoing voice filled the World Tree's chamber.

"So...the dark powers inside of you finally awakened?"

Both Dante and Alice looked up at the tree's large, engorged roots, searching for the source of the voice. Apparently hearing the same voice as well, Lia, Xin, and Krylin stopped their battle.

Alice blinked in curiosity when she saw the small fairy she had seen on her last visit in the chamber.

The fairy seemed to float around, her footsteps so barely audible and her strides so clean and perfect.

"I asked you a question," she said daintily towards Alice. "Did they awaken?"

Alice furrowed her brow in fear when she found the dark gaze the fairy was sending her. "Erm...-" She was starting to feel uneasy.

"Why do you need to know?" Dante asked, stepping in front of Alice and protectively holding his arm out to block her.

"Dante..." Alice whispered, looking up at the back of the archer's head.

Before the fairy could speak again, Krylin shouted up at her, "Eternus! Can't you see I'm in need of help!? Hurry up and purge these undesirable Aegis -"

"My loyalties do not lie with you, Krylin," Eternus muttered, carelessly turning away from the dark cleric and turning back towards Alice.

Krylin saw this and screamed, "don't tell me you're siding with that wench!"

Eternus narrowed her soft green eyes at Alice and whispered, "no...my loyalties only lie with him."

"Eh?" Alice widened her eyes. "Dante...?"

Wordlessly, Eternus turned around just in time to meet with the elf that had just entered the chamber.

The young blue haired woman let her lips part into a shocked expression when she saw who the elf was carrying on her shoulder. "Meg!?" She got out from behind Dante and shouted, "you! What are you doing with her!?"

Eternus stood there on the gnarled roots of the World Tree with Ciel, still carrying Meg over her shoulders almost effortlessly. The green haired fairy looked down at Alice and whispered, "don't interfere."

A quick flick of her hand and suddenly both Alice and Dante were sent flying back into the nearest wall.

Alice had never felt such a force in her life. It was quick, but painful and dealt enough damage to leave her stunned for a few seconds. Lying against the wall behind her, Alice quickly realized that Dante had taken most of the impact, seeing as how he was behind her when Eternus threw them back.

"Dante...!" Alice exclaimed, gathering her senses and tending to him.

The raven haired archer groaned and shook his head, dust and pieces of rubble falling from his shaggy black hair. "What was that?" he asked, suddenly grunting in pain as he tried to get up.

"Ah! S-Sorry!" Alice helped him up. "My armor..." She looked down at her thick, black armor that didn't seem to have lost its luster or even had a scratch on it. "It hurt you even more."

"It's nothing," he said, waving it off. "Right now let's focus on the matter in front of us..."

Alice set her jaw when she saw the female elf set Meg down on the gnarled roots at Eternus' feet. She then saw the elf smoothly jump down from the tree and land on the partially destroyed stone bridge. Her cool gaze was deadset on them.

"Leave her to me," Dante stated. "You go get Meg. I have a bad feeling about all of this..."

Seeing as how they couldn't waste any time, Alice agreed. She held out her hand and instantly her Eviscerator came flying back towards her. She caught it and quickly ran off.

Before Ciel could pull back the string to her bow to attack Alice, she was stopped by a powerful stream of arrows. Her sharp eyes went towards Dante and saw the bright circle of his Hurricane attack, still lingering to his Dark Arund.

She let Alice run past her as she focused her attention on the platoon leader.

"Do you really intend to fight me?" the young elf asked passively.

Dante hopped down onto the partially destroyed bridge and slowly walked up to her. "I will only if you're willing to fight me." He took note of her elven features and added in, "you're the prodigy of the Academy, huh? Skilled in archery and you could match up your skills to a platoon leader...it's too bad the Bowmaster position is taken by me."

Ciel seemed unaffected by Dante's words. "If I kill you, then I can gain that spot, no?"

"That's quite the talk of confidence coming from someone so young-!" Dante barely had time to finish his sentence when Ciel took a powerful leap towards him and spun around to kick him in the head.

He blocked it just barely with his arm, but he was unprepared for the next blow.

She twisted her lithe body and spun again, kicking him directly in the gut.

Dante fell back and staggered, coughing dryly trying to regain his sense of balance. He raised his head and saw her standing just a few feet away from him, casually staring at him, as if she was waiting for him to get back up. Was she taunting him?

"You're quite strong," Dante said with a dry chuckle. "Never expected a fragile elf to be good at close combat."

"Would you like for us to battle with your archery then? Although I'm sure you're at a disadvantage for that already."

"What?"

"We elves are the first ones to perfect the art of using a bow and arrow, while you humans savagely hacked away at each other with your crude swords and barbaric axes. You may be a bowmaster and a platoon leader, but blood of my ancestors and Queen Mercedes flows through my veins. I can't possibly lose."

Dante quickly jumped out of the way when he saw the first signs of her Hurricane attack. The wave of arrows created a large explosion where Dante once stood.

Ciel turned her head up and saw Dante ready to launch his own Hurricane. She dodged the wave of arrows with ease and then the two bowmasters came to a halt when both of them landed on the ground.

"It takes a while for you to catch up to the speed of Hurricane, doesn't it?" Ciel asked.

Dante didn't answer her, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of the truth.

"We elves had to perfect that technique once you humans began to use throwing stars and manipulate the shadows. We needed something just as fast and so this technique was created. I'm sure you had to learn this skill from a ratty old book, didn't you?"

"No," he replied, clenching his teeth as he shed himself of his black leather overcoat. "Athena Pierce taught me," he stated, tossing the coat off to the side. "One of your people that chooses to help us humans."

Ciel narrows her cool green eyes and muttered, "Athena is a traitor to our people. She cannot be trusted."

"Athena is doing her part in ending this war! She's a hero!" Dante shouted back. "All you elves have done is hide in the background waiting for this whole ordeal to be over?"

"Hide in the background, you say? That's funny." Ciel smirked and laughed wryly. "We are a weak race, but we did our best to get where we are today. Our numbers are small and we can't afford to lose anymore! If you want someone to blame, then blame your people! Humans have done nothing, but exploit elves ever since Queen Mercedes disappeared!" She grit her teeth and tore away the red cape she had been wearing. She threw it aside violently. rage filling her body.

Dante quickly dodged the sudden stream of arrows shot towards him, but he was caught off guard by one explosive arrow that Ciel had snuck in.

The arrow exploded and Dante was propelled back several feet before coming to a rest. The skin on his arms were slightly scalded, but luckily there was no serious damage.

"I don't suppose you perfected this technique. It's amusing, seeing you humans attach gunpowder bombs to your arrows in order to mimic our abilities."

Dante dodged several arrows that Ciel shot out, each one exploded when they made contact with anything. It proved to be a big mistake when Dante jumped up into the air, making him a lone target perfect for Ciel.

She shot out an arrow and he mistakenly blocked it with his bow, only to have it explode directly on him.

He let out a cry of pain as he was thrown down to the earth.

"Is this all Athena's Aegis has to offer? Especially its bowmaster platoon leader?"

Dante grit his teeth at the aching pain that shot through his body as he fought to get up.

"You have no redeeming skills that put you at even remotely the same level as me." Ciel walked up to him and eventually stood over his battered body. "What are you good at exactly?"

"B-..."

"Hm?"

"Burn the Heavens-!"

Ciel widened her eyes when she suddenly saw multiple arcane circles form around Dante.

"-Spirit Phoenix!"

Immediately, the phoenix shot out from the summoning circles and towards Ciel. The young elf was met head on by the bird and she flew back a great distance before she landed on the ground.

"You wanted to know what I'm good at...?"

Ciel grit her teeth as she leaned up on her elbows to look at the raven haired man.

Dante smirked as his spirit phoenix came up to perch on his shoulder. It's brilliantly flame lit tails flailed behind it as it outstretched its large firey red wings.

"Let me show you then." He raised his bow and pulled the string back, producing a red hot flaming arrow.

"Inferno!"

* * *

><p>Alice darted towards Eternus, weapon raised high above her head.<p>

"You'd do best to keep out of the way, knight of darkness." The fairy effortlessly raised a hand and blocked Alice's swing.

Grunting, Alice pushed down harder, hoping to break through Eternus' invisible force field, but it proved to be useless. She was thrown back like a mere fly.

"Why are you doing so much to get this girl back?" Eternus looked down at Meg's body. "Surely you care about the well-being of this world more than her. I don't think you quite understand the situation."

Alice glared at the fairy and tightly clenched her fists. "I just feel as if your intentions are less than pure."

"Is that what you think-?"

"Did Meg know this is what would happen to her? She didn't ask for this to happen!"

"This girl is the holder of the World Tree's seed. She has had it since birth and this is her fate. I ask that you not interfere with that." Eternus raised her hand and shot out large orbs of invisible energy at Alice.

The warrior side-stepped and quickly dodged them before charging in again.

"Dark Impale!" she shouted, the end of her Eviscerator gathering up dark energy.

It made contact with the fairy's shield and Alice held it there, no matter how hard it was to do so. She saw Eternus' impassive gaze and wondered if she was even trying to fight.

"It seems as though you haven't made your contract between your Beholder spirit and the Berserker spirit," commented Eternus. "Is he afraid of losing you? Or are you afraid of losing him?"

"That's not any of your concern!" Alice shouted, breaking apart from the fairy. She jumped back and kept her guard up.

"You must both accept the fact that it is what brought you two together and what will ultimately tear you apart."

"What are you talking about?"

"How did you get picked as Dante Kyudo's martyr in the first place?"

Not knowing what Eternus was implying, Alice meekly responded, "A-Athena said it was because we cover each other's weakness. She said...that since Dante can't fight that well in close combat that I needed to be there to-"

Finally, Eternus cracked a little smile, more like a smug smirk. "Is that what that elf told you?"

"Eh?"

"Tell me, is that true? Do you think that Dante is really lacking in that area?"

Alice looked down at her armored shoes and blinked, wondering if that was true. Thinking back to all the times in the past, while Dante wasn't as good at close combat, he wasn't _helpless_ without his archery.

"I-"

"And there are plenty of foot soldiers in the Aegis that were stronger than you at that time. Why didn't Athena choose one of them as Dante's martyr? Why did she choose you?"

"That's because-" Alice never thought of that. She and Ada were just two fresh recruits straight out of the Academy. They didn't have an ounce of battle experience and yet...

"Athena has played all of you for fools." Eternus said, grinning wildly. "She made the exams harder than usual when it was time for you to graduate from the Academy." The fairy raised an eyebrow and teasingly asked, "do you understand now?"

"N-No, I-"

"It was Athena's plan from the beginning to put you two together. She orchestrated the entire thing so that she could bring together the amplifier and Berserker spirit, Dante, and its master, the Dark Knight." Eternus raised her hand and pointed at Alice. "Namely you, Alice Everard."

Alice widened her eyes and then staggered on her feet, suddenly feeling slightly ill with shock. "That's not true-!"

"Grendel and the last of the Five Heroes managed to seal away Xeros and his powers, but Athena knew that seal wouldn't last very long. That's why she created the Aegis and decided to grow her own knight of darkness. I must commend her. That nosy elf managed to uncover the secret that masters of dragons can eventually learn to become masters of the darkness...she even knew how."

Alice remained silent to all of this, finding it hard to absorb.

"Athena, knew that she needed to grow the darkness inside of you. There were other dragon knights, but they were all too old, already having experienced much of what life has to offer, but not you. You were young and a clean canvas to color any emotions onto. Athena knew that, that's why she brought you and Dante together. What better way to feed you negative emotions than the pain of heartbreak?"

"Stop it!" Alice screamed, clapping her hands over her ears. "That's not true!"

"That elf freely allowed you to see Dante no matter what, didn't she? She even let you meet him in a restricted prison not even open to platoon leaders. Do you remember? That was all part of her plan. She wanted you two get close, to fall in love, and then...feel the pain of losing each other."

The blue haired girl squeezed her eyes shut and trembled. She didn't want to hear or believe any of it, but she couldn't help it. Was everything really because of Athena?

"She even took it to the next step by recruiting Mary as Dante's new martyr. There were plenty of suitable martyrs for Dante at the time. Some even more qualified than Mary, but Athena chose her without any questions. She intended to cause you harm, Alice. It was all necessary to bring you up as a knight of darkness...it makes you wonder...if your feelings for Dante are ones of love or an instinctive desire for power by your Beholder spirit."

Seeing as how easily Alice was defeated just by mere words, Eternus smirked and turned back around to Meg's body. "Now then..." she whispered, holding her hand on the young cleric's forehead. "Awaken, seed of-"

Eternus stopped and suddenly gagged when she felt a powerful force slam into her back.

Alice had punched her hard with her clawed hand and sent the fairy hurtling down from the powerful roots of the Tree.

Without a second thought, Alice jumped down in pursuit of Eternus and swung down her polearm. The attack hit the fairy and she went flying off towards the nearest wall.

Everyone residing in the chamber had their attention drawn to the violent, one-sided fight.

"Eternus!" Ciel shouted, seeing the fairy being held against the wall by Alice. She ran off to them, ignoring her fight with Dante.

"Hey! Wait! Your fight's with me!" yelled Dante, creating another fire arrow. He shot it off towards the elf and it struck her dead in the back.

She gasped and fell forward before the whole area around her was engulfed in searing hot flames. It was then that Ciel cursed herself for her lapse in judgement. How blindly and foolishly she had ran to protect Eternus...

Feeling the searing pain of her skin burning, Ciel rose from the flames and turned back towards Dante. As she raised her bow to attack him, she saw his spirit phoenix poised for attack. The flames around her seemed to burn brighter and hotter as Dante held his hand out.

"Ah...I see," Ciel whispered, seeing the phoenix charge down at her.

"...you're good with fire spells."

Dante saw his phoenix crash down on the elf, bursting into brilliant flames. The flames from his phoenix and Inferno combined, created a large tower of fire before quickly dying down. He let out a harsh sigh out of pity and guilt when all he saw were the ashes of the elf.

His attention was then drawn back towards Eternus and Alice when he heard another loud crack.

"Eternus!" Krylin shouted, ceasing her attacks on Lia and Xin. "That damn fairy..."

Gripping the fairy's thin neck tightly, Alice glared at her hatefully and whispered, "it doesn't matter if me meeting Dante was all because of Athena. How does that change anything!?" Her voice grew louder.

Eternus flinched when she felt herself being pushed further into the solid rock walls.

"Dante...even if I didn't fall in love with him..." Alice drew back her Eviscerator. "Whether that feeling is from my own self or from my Beholder spirit, it doesn't matter! Because right now, Dante is my important person that I want to protect! That won't change no matter what you tell me!"

Dante watched the warrior from the ground below and felt gratitude towards her words. "Alice..." he whispered, smiling softly.

Just as the spearman brought down the sharp end of her polearm onto Eternus, Krylin shouted loudly.

"STOP!"

Alice halted and turned her head to look over at Krylin. Everyone in the chamber did so.

The dark mage leaned against her Laevateinn staff, worn out from all of the fighting. She clenched her teeth and raised her head up to Alice. "You wench, don't you dare harm that fairy anymore!"

"Why not?" Xin questioned skeptically. "You don't want us harming an asset of yours?"

"Don't you fools understand? She has the power to unleash darkness unlike anything you've ever experienced!"

"What are you saying?" asked Dante, walking up next to Xin.

"She's using the World Tree to-!"

Suddenly Krylin stopped talking when a sharp spear impaled her directly through the heart. Her purple eyes widened in pure shock.

All three of them, Lia, Xin, and Dante, stepped back in surprise when they saw a huge mass of dark purple energy swirling around behind of Krylin.

Alice saw this and Eternus started to giggle. The warrior turned her attention back to the fairy and saw a crazed grin on her normally stoic face.

"It's already too late. He was hungry for power and I had already casted the spell on the little girl."

"Huh?" Alice turned around to where Meg was and saw that her body was gone. "What happened to Meg!?" she shouted, pressing her hand deeper into the fairy's skin.

"He has already consumed her and the seed that she held. The power of the World Tree flows through his veins and there's no stopping him now." Eternus replied, cackling as the dark mass behind Krylin slowly started to take the form of a man.

As the clouded mass slowly revealed a human form, Lia gasped and shook as she took a step back. "N-No...this feeling...it can't be."

"Lia?" Xin asked, worried about the mage's sudden tone of fright.

A pale hand came out of the dark mass and gently held Krylin's face.

"There, there...rest easy..." a gentle voice cooed into her ear. A malicious grin was formed and slowly the mass revealed itself to be a tall, young man with long, strands of dark purple hair. His skin was pale and his eyes were a deep purple. The spear he used to impale Krylin was quickly drawn out and he held her body against his.

His Agares Bloody Spear dripped of her crimson red blood as he held it by his side.

"I'll put your remaining energy to good use."

Everyone watched as the man drained Krylin of her remaining powers, so much that she eventually crumbled away into mere nothingness.

His eyes went over to the other people staring at him in fear, because of how quickly he managed to reduce Krylin away into nothing. "So..." he started, grinning. "You're the Aegis?"

"Lia, you seem to know him...who is he?" Xin asked, gripping his Doombringer tightly.

"He's the source of all evil and the one Grendel sealed away years ago..." Lia took a step back and shuddered as she whispered his name.

"Xeros..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_I'm sorry I haven't updated this in a long time. ; _

_Been busy with exams and art commissions. But! Finally managed to sit down and work on this~ _

_Hopefully somethings got cleared up. (Or not LOL) So Xeros got revived and shits about to go down 8D What is the meaning of all this and how does Eternus play into all this? _

_Probably only two more chapters before I wind this battle all up so, I'll release the next chapter by Saturday if I get a lot of reviews~ If not, then I'll update two weeks from now. _

_And omg people, stop saying this is like...novel worthy. This is so shitty compared to everything else QQ _

_Please review! _


	29. Hesitance

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 29 - Hesitance **

"-Ivan!"

_BANG!_

All the blond gunslinger could see was red in front of him. He struggled to figure out what had happened until he instinctively held out his arms to catch her. That's when he opened his mouth and screamed.

"MINNA!"

She felt warm, but he couldn't tell if it was because of her body or because of her blood now pouring freely from her wound and onto himself.

In front of them, Ivan saw the fragments of her Mana Guard falling to the ground and then disappearing into nothing, but tiny speckles of light. He looked down at her face and saw her eyes were sunken in, already weak from blood loss.

"I-Ivan..." Minna let out a trembling giggle, a childish, innocent giggle, as she reached up to stroke his cheek. "Are you okay...?"

Ivan tried to form words to answer her, but he found that he couldn't. All he did was tighten his hands around her arms as he held her. His lap felt warm with her blood.

Minna gasped softly as she fought to catch her breath. "I-It's hard to breath," she admitted, smiling as tears began to pour from her eyes.

The corsair looked down at the bullet wound in her chest and saw that it hit one of her lungs. Ivan heard the painful sounds of her soft voice trying to speak, but only coming out of wispy breaths.

"It hurts..." she finally whispered weakly. "But I'm glad...you're okay Ivan. You're...not...hurt anywhere are you?" Minna felt him capture her hand in his.

Ivan trembled as he gently brought her hand to his chest, allowing her to feel his heartbeat. "I-I'm...ok-okay...see?" he reassured her.

When Minna felt it, she smiled and closed her eyes, more tears pouring down her face. She let out a soft giggle. "It's so strong," she commented on his rapidly beating heart. "I'm gla...d..."

His green eyes slowly widened when he saw her eyes had closed. It had happened so abruptly, so quickly...

"Minna," he whispered, shaking her gently. "Minna," his voice asked again, growing louder in volume.

_What was this feeling?_

Ivan helplessly squeezed her hand and let out a harsh sigh. "Minna? What do I do?" he asked, his voice cracking. For the first time, he felt lost, unsure of what to do. He brought his hand up to his face and nuzzled her palm, feeling the retreating heat. His face contorted into that of sorrow and despair.

He felt moisture in his eyes and a single tear rolled down his face and onto her nimble fingers.

Ivan sat there in surprise when he felt this and gently drew her hand away.

Isabelle raised an eyebrow as she got back up onto her feet, all of her injuries recovering. "What's this?" she asked, staring down at him as he silently cried.

"Don't tell me you actually feel sad over her death."

Ivan sat there, tears continuously rolling down the planes of his cheek. All the memories of him spending his days alongside with Minna seemed like a dream now. How he made her smile, how he made her cry, how he made her angry...

The tears came down faster when he finally came to the realization that he could never see them again.

"You're pathetic," Isabelle commented, watching him cry softly. "A complete failure. I was right to kill Mother. Perhaps she made the horrible mistake of ever creating such a flawed experiment like you-"

She stopped when Ivan stood up, shedding his brown coat.

"What? Are you seriously going to fight looking like that?" she asked haughtily, seeing his tear-ridden face.

Ivan gently placed the coat over Minna's body, covering her face. Without another word, he faced Isabelle and suddenly wrapped his arm around her and grabbed a fistful of her long blond hair.

He used his other hand to grab the barrel of her gun and he forced the gun up against his chest.

Isabelle jolted and widened her emerald green eyes in shock. "What are you-?"

"If you want to kill me so badly, then do it," Ivan breathed out, his voice ragged and broken.

"I-"

"Do it!" Ivan shouted angrily, tears coming down faster and shoving the gun deeper against his bare chest. "If you could kill Minna that easily, then kill me too!"

"You really are pathetic..." Isabelle whispered, squeezing the trigger. "What's so good about that woman anyways?"

"She taught me..." Ivan shook his head, disliking his first choice in words. He started again, "she _acknowledged_ me...as a human. I was alive to her. That's all."

The female gunslinger chuckled, looking up at his tear soaked face. She smirked as she released her finger from the trigger of her gun. Her hand released the weapon and fell to her sides.

Ivan stared at her in surprise as he held her gun. "What-?"

"I think I'll let you live...it's more amusing to see your internal pain." Isabelle laughed mockingly. "I think killing you will be showing you mercy."

Angered, Ivan grit his teeth and let out a yell of frustration as he turned the gun around and shot her a dozen times in the chest.

Isabelle gagged at her own blood and Ivan let her body fall to the ground in a bloody mess. He knew it was useless, seeing her regeneration heal her wounds, but what was he supposed to do?

"...There! I see them!"

Ivan heard a man's voice and no sooner did he feel a sharp pain in his back. He grunted and turned his head around, seeing a distant rush of Krylin's soldiers coming towards them.

Without thinking, he rushed over to Minna's body and scooped her up into his arms before fleeing the small clearing.

"Don't let him escape!" he could hear them shout.

Ivan lept through the high trees, hugging Minna closely in his arms. As he did, his coat fell slightly off her head, revealing her face.

When he approached the end of Ellinia's thick forests, Ivan landed on the ground and placed Minna's body down at the base of a tree, hidden by a growth of bushes. In a sharp grunt, he pulled out the arrow from his back and felt a strange sensation emitting from where he was struck. He looked at the bloodied tip of the arrow and saw a green colored liquid amidst the blood.

Without thinking too much of it, he threw it aside and tended to Minna.

He gently swept away her orange bangs from her closed eyes and lovingly stroked her cheek.

"Minna..." he whispered softly.

_"I'm scared of what will happen to you." _

Ivan ran his thumb over her eyelid and felt the gentle tickle of her eyelashes against his skin.

"I'm sure he's somewhere around here!" he could hear the soldiers shouting. They were closing in.

Quickly, Ivan kissed her cold lips. He swore that she tasted like those sweets that she gave him a long time ago...

_ He opened his mouth slightly so that Minna could slip the bite sized tart in his mouth. She smiled while he ate it. "It's good, isn't it?"_

_Minna wore a big grin on her face. "Then I'll bring you some more tomorrow!"_

Ivan pulled away and released his two guns from their holsters around his waist. He wiped away his tears and whispered, "don't worry about me Minna. I promised you that I wouldn't die as long as you're still alive..."

Quickly he gave her a last kiss on her forehead and pulled his coat over her head, hiding her face again.

He stood up and took one last look down at her.

"Thank you, Minna...for everything."

Ivan left her body there and heard Krylin's enormous army in the distance. They were getting close.

_"You may not understand why I do certain things Minna..."_

He walked out of the sparse forest and into the soft, grassy fields that surrounded Henesys. In the distance he could see the small, cozy town and it filled him up with nostalgia. He spotted the Aegis, a small amount of soldiers and he knew that they wouldn't have the means of facing this army without severe casualties.

Ivan walked through the fields and finally stopped. He closed his eye and squeezed the trigger to both of his guns.

"Infinity," he whispered, hearing the slow march of Krylin's army heading towards him.

_"I don't really understand it either." _

Ivan turned around just as the first troops marched out of the forest. Without a second thought, he bent his knees and ran towards them at full speed.

_"Is this what humans do? Make irrational decisions that don't make sense?" _

"Fire!" a general shouted, tugging at the reins of his dark brown horse.

Ivan stopped at the sight of hundreds of arrows being launched into the air, aimed directly down at him. However, instead of finding cover, Ivan stood him ground at the base of the hill and simply raised his guns up.

Rapidly, he shot, deflecting each arrow that threaten to kill him.

"Get him! It's only one of them!"

Ivan set his jaw and ran up the hill, meeting the army head on.

_"This must be an irrational thing to do, but I'm only doing this to protect you Minna." _

The gunslinger let out a grunt when he felt the sharp edge of a sword cut his shoulder. He swiftly turned around to meet the warrior that dealt the attack and pressed his gun onto the man's face. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

The army had him surrounded already, but he wasn't going to go down without a fight. He wasn't going to go down for nothing.

_"You died protecting me, but I can still protect you." _

Ivan jumped up and clicked his gun. He shot off a round, killing another soldier, and providing a large recoil that launched him into the air. As he soared over the army, he narrowed his green eyes at the only goal he had in mind as his final strike, the general.

A javelin was thrown at him and he blocked it with his arm. He grit his teeth in pain at the sharp object impaling his arm, rendering it useless.

_"I will protect the things you loved, your friends, the Aegis..." _

Ivan shot down and kicked the general off of his horse and landed on top of the man, pointing the gun to his head. At that moment, Ivan felt numerous spears and sword impale him, all done by the soldiers that were surrounding him.

The gunslinger widened his green eyes and gagged, coughing out blood. However, the grip on his gun didn't loosen.

With all of his remaining strength, Ivan pulled the trigger and shot Krylin's general directly in the head, killing him.

Then, Ivan swayed on his feet before finally taking his last breath. As he fell to the ground, he cracked a small smile.

"I kept my promise, Minna..."

* * *

><p>Ada furrowed her brow. "This can't be all Krylin had in store for us."<p>

"What are you talking about, Ada?" Cedric asked, coming up to her. He turned back around to the town and saw troops that they had already killed. "Are you talking about how easy it was to take back Henesys?"

"What else did you think I meant?" Ada grunted. "This was way too easy. She didn't even station that many soldiers here when she knows that Henesys was the Aegis' central city."

Cedric raised an eyebrow as he looked out at the horizon. "Well...if she is sending an army, they're late. Think something's delaying them?"

"I don't know...but I have a bad feeling about this-"

"Look over there!" a soldier suddenly shouted, pointing off into the distance of the rolling hills.

Just as a light rain started to come down on Henesys, Ada looked into the direction where the soldier was pointing towards and saw the advancement of Krylin's troops.

Slowly, her breath hitched and her eyes widened when she saw the hills being completely lined up in black figures. "There's so many of them..."

Cedric seemed to share her surprise by reeling back. "I expected a larger army...but nothing like this." He let out a soft exhale and whispered, "Henesys will be run down to the ground if the battle takes place here."

Ada whipped around to the soldiers in their platoon and shouted, "we need to engage them outside of town! Protect Henesys at all costs! We can't lose it again!"

"Yes, sir!"

The Aegis soldiers took up their arms and charged out of the city.

"We can't do this on our own. Where are the rest of the platoons?" Cedric asked.

"That ambush in Ellinia really broke our ranks...and our morale," Ada muttered under her breath. "Only thing we can do now is wait for Queen Nackt and Princess Mytsu's army to get here...hopefully in time. But truthfully, while their troops are skilled, we're still outnumbered."

"Mm," Cedric contemplated, fastening his Varkit dagger on his arm. "Then we'll just need to beat them with skill."

* * *

><p>Alice could feel the tension in the air as the whole chamber was swallowed in silence.<p>

It was finally Xeros who spoke up, smirking at them as he stabbed his spear into the ground.

"How long has it been, Cecilia?" he asked, chuckling when he saw her visibly flinch. "Surely I haven't been bad company?"

Lia drew back and finally shouted, "d-don't refer to me so freely!" She raised her Evil Wings staff at him threateningly, flames rising from her staff and from the ground around her. "You bastard...how...?"

"Ah," Xeros lightly held his head, "how silly of me. My being here is unthinkable, isn't it?" He grinned as he raised his hand up and clenched it into a fist. "You can thank the World Tree for that...and of course," he turned to Eternus and Alice. Holding out his hand, Xeros bowed slightly and cooed, "my darling fairy."

Alice furrowed her brow when she saw Xeros motioning towards Eternus, who was still pinned to the wall by her.

"Isn't it time you let go, knight of darkness?"

Just as Alice turned her head to look at the fairy, Eternus placed her hand on the warrior's chest and an energy pulsated from her, shooting her like a dart to the other side of the chamber.

The thin girl crashed into the thick solid walls and fell to the shallow waters surrounding the World Tree.

"Alice!" Dante shouted, attempting to run to her before he was stopped by Eternus.

"Not so fast," she hissed out darkly, grinning as she flew over to Xeros' side. With a wave of her frail hand, gnarled roots and vines broke out from underneath the stone bridge they were standing on and wrapped themselves around Dante, Xin, and Lia.

However, before she could get caught, Lia swept out her arms and produced a wave of fire that fended off the vines before they could catch her.

She teleported back and held up her Evil Wings staff. Her hands shook and she willed herself to keep them steady.

"What's wrong, Cecilia?" Xeros asked in a playful tone. "You don't look so happy to see me."

When the dark knight stepped forward, Cecilia shouted threateningly, "don't come any closer! Or I swear...I swear I'll kill you!" Her seething anger could be heard in her voice.

"But can you?" The dark knight chuckled as he motioned over to Eternus.

The fairy tightened her fist and immediately the vines and roots that were trapping Dante and Xin coiled themselves tighter, causing the two men to cry out in pain.

Xin attempted to break himself loose with his Doombringer, but he found himself unable to even lift a finger.

"It's no use," Xeros commented, noticing Xin struggling.

The purple haired man laughed and turned his attention back to Lia. "Just submit to me, Lia. Need I remind you what's at stake here?"

Lia let out a harsh breath when she sensed Xeros stepping closer to Dante. "Get away from him!" she screamed, "or I swear...I'll-"

"-kill me?" Xeros scoffed lightly, grinning as he gently touched Dante's neck. "Don't make me laugh. Tell me, Cecilia...how long did you think your plan would work?"

The fire mage kept quiet.

"The world would have found out eventually that he-" Xero gently tapped his index finger against Dante's cheek "-would be carrying blood that could aid one of the most powerful types of magic in existence? Surely you didn't think hiding him from his past would help?"

Dante looked over at Lia, wondering if she would say anything pertaining to what Xeros was saying.

"Erasing the Aegis records. Going through and burning everything that had to do with the Kyudos and their lineage...quite painstaking, but I have to tell you, it was hardly enough. Even without names, those that harness the power of darkness can sense those that were meant to amplify its powers. We crave it...instinctively." Xeros finally turned to face Dante and smirked.

"You don't even know why Krylin was attracted to you in the first place, do you?"

"Don't-" Lia stepped in.

Xeros ignored her and continued on. "It's for the same reason why my little lamb, Alice, is attracted to you as well. They both want your power. They want to use it for their own gain and they'll even abuse you to get it. Sad part is that Krylin never knew what exactly drew her to you...the same goes for Alice as well, but...good for me...I know exactly why I'm drawn to you."

Dante flinched when Xeros tore away at the front portion of his sleeveless shirt.

"Leave him alone!" Lia cried out, shooting multiple fireballs at the knight. Her breath stopped in her throat when her attacks simply passed right through him.

"Are you surprised?" Xeros smirked. "You forget that the life seed of the World Tree flows through my veins now. It's invulnerability to earthly attacks is now my invulnerability too. Now then..." He spread out his fingers and dug them into Dante's chest, eliciting a yell of pain from the archer. "if you don't mind, we'll be making that contract your father foolishly backed out of years ago."

Suddenly, a large dark scythe hurtled towards Xeros.

He whipped his head into that direction and dodged the flying object just as it crashed into the ground in front of Dante.

The archer let out a loud gasp and coughed as soon as Xeros's fingers were pulled out from his chest. He peeked at the dark scythe in front of him and saw Alice's Eviscerator embedded within layers upon layers of dark energy.

Alice finally walked up to her weapon and pulled it out from the ground. She kept her blue eyes on Xeros as she held the scythe against her shoulder.

"Ah, so my little lamb finally decided to show herself!" he exclaimed, opening his arms up in a grand motion. "Are you ready to give up that Beholder spirit of yours?"

"No," Alice replied. "I'm only here to defend what's mine."

"Oh? And what's that?" Xeros asked, clearly amused.

Alice swiftly brought down her scythe and released both Dante and Xin from Eternus' hold. She turned down to face Dante and saw him looking up at her with his red eyes, looking tired, but full of willpower.

She held her scythe towards Dante and shouted at Xeros. "He's mine! If you want to make a contract with him, then you'll have to beat me first!"

Without a second thought or delay, Alice charged after him, her weapon raised high above her head.

Amused, Xeros grinned and easily dodged her first swing. "Making such bold statements when you haven't even tamed him." He sidestepped again to dodge Alice's second swing.

Dante watched them and whispered, "he's too fast..." He grit his teeth as he grabbed his discarded Arund bow.

"Dante, what are you planning to do?" Xin asked, standing up on his feet as Dante did so as well. "You could hurt Alice too if you get in the middle of this!"

The archer sharply turned his head towards Xin and shouted, "then do you expect me to do nothing-_urgh!_" Dante suddenly fell to his knees, clutching his chest.

Worriedly, Xin knelt down by his side. "You're in no condition to fight! We have no idea what Xeros did to you-!"

"What does that matter!?" Dante shouted, struggling to get up on his feet. "Alice...she's..." He grunted again as a wave of pain shot through his body.

"Dante's right."

Xin turned around to look at Lia and widened his dark blue eyes. "But-!"

"I have to end this." She tilted her head down towards Dante and gently knelt down beside him, whispering, "Dante...I never meant for what I did to hurt you so much. I don't want you to forgive me, not when I haven't done my best to protect you. Not when I haven't been a mother to you."

Dante, worn out from the pain going through his body, turned his head slightly and saw his mother standing up. "Wh-What are you...?" he breathed out.

All three of them focused their attention back on Alice's and Xeros' fight when they heard a loud boom.

Alice had swung her polearm hard against the chamber walls, causing the room to rumble and the bridge they were standing on, to shake.

Xin worriedly looked around and knew that the chamber wasn't going to hold for much longer.

"It looks like you're having trouble controlling your powers. You release too much when it's unnecessary and too little when you really need it for a crucial hit," Xeros commented, smirking when he saw Alice's frustrated expression. "Let me show you just how powerful the darkness can be when controlled properly."

He held out his arm to his side and immediately his Agares Bloody spear flew over to him. In a blink of an eye, he caught it in his hand and he rushed towards Alice.

The female warrior braced herself, but it wasn't enough.

"AH!" she cried out as Xeros hit the polearm right out of her hands. Alice stumbled backwards and then fell just as he drew back his spear.

"Alice!" Dante yelled out for her as he mustered up all his strength to get to her in time.

Xeros saw the frightened expression Alice held on her face just as his spear crackled with dark energy. "Dark Impale-!"

Before his spear could crash down on Alice, he was stopped by a strong mana barrier.

Alice widened her cyan blue eyes when she saw Lia standing before her, casting Mana Guard to protect her. "Lia..." she whispered.

The dark knight raised an eyebrow and chuckled at the sight of the fire mage before him. His red tongue flickered out to lick at his sharp canine teeth as he mused, "so, did you finally muster up the courage to fight me?"

"I always had it!" Lia shouted, breaking her mana barrier and quickly swinging down her staff onto Xeros. However, when it simply phased right through him, she flinched momentarily.

"Seems like you forgot already about what I said. No earthly force can harm me as long as the World Tree's seed runs through my veins. I'm sure Eternus can enlighten you on that-"

Suddenly Xeros' breath hitched in his throat before he could finish his sentence. His purple eyes widened in pain and shock as he clutched at his chest. "What-?" he gasped out.

"IMPRUDENT LITTLE BRAT!" a shrieking voice emitted from the other side of the chamber.

Everyone averted their attention towards the voice and Alice gasped.

"Sean!" she exclaimed, seeing her little brother hop down from the large roots of the World Tree, carrying Meg's body in his arms.

"How did he find her!?" Xeros seethed angrily.

Sean, frightened by the sound of Eternus flying towards him, did his best to run out from the chamber.

"Where do you think you're taking her, boy?" the fairy asked, suddenly appearing right in front of him.

The blue haired boy let out a scared cry and stumbled on his feet backwards, falling off balance.

"Anyone who interferes with our Lord Xeros' revival will face death," Eternus whispered, bringing her arm back and raising a sharp rock fragment from the ground.

"Sean!" Alice cried out, desperately trying to get up.

"Oh no you don't," Xin whispered, grabbing his Doombringer and quickly rushing up to the fairy.

Eternus brought down her hand, shooting the fragment direction at Sean's head. "Die-!"

Sean widened his blue eyes when he saw Xin step in between them. "Xin!" he shouted when he heard the resonance of the crusader's Doombringer shattering.

The fairy narrowed her minty green eyes when she saw a single hole in the middle of Xin's Doombringer and through that hole she saw her rock fragment embedded deep in his eye socket.

Xin breathed heavily, coping with the immense pain from his eye as he slowly lowered his sword.

"So...your weapon slowed it down slightly," Eternus muttered, seeing blood run down Xin's face. "I see. You humans are so foolish, defending someone else that you barely know."

Xin chuckled as he stabbed his sword into the hard bridge. "I would agree with you...but you're wrong."

"What?"

The crusader stood up and turned his head slightly to look down at Sean. He flashed the young boy a warm smile. "What kind of an older brother would I be if I couldn't even protect you?"

"Eh? Older...brother?" Sean asked softly.

Xin turned back to Eternus and held his Doombringer to her thin neck. "I thought you cared about Xeros. Then you'd be wise to not harm an asset of his."

Eternus furrowed her brow and whispered dangerously, "what are you saying...?"

"The Kyudo blood runs through my veins, the very blood that can help amplify Xeros' powers..."

"You're lying-"

"Consult the World Tree if you want to for proof. It holds the life for all beings in existence, right? It'll only prove that I'm telling the truth."

Xin saw the fairy lower her arms. Gripping his weapon tightly, Xin turned to Sean. "Get up and take Meg with you."

"But, everyone-"

"Go Sean!" Xin shouted. "You had told me that you were close friends with Meg! I'm sure she wants you to save her until the very end! Now go!" He turned back around just in time to block Eternus' attack.

Sean hesitated, but quickly came to a realization when he heard Xin's final words.

"Meg wants you to be brave, doesn't she?"

The young warrior felt his breath hitch in his throat. He lowered his head somberly and nodded.

_"I have to be brave for Meg...or rather..."_

Sean scooped Meg's lifeless body up into his arms and closed his eyes as he sighed, taking in the soft floral scent in her hair. He took off running out of the chamber. From behind him, he could hear Eternus' screeching voice. It frightened him, but he didn't falter in his steps.

_"I have to be brave for myself." _

He ran up the long spiral staircase and he could hear Eternus again.

"Meg...I'm sorry I let you down." Sean sniffled as he felt tears prickle at his blue eyes. "But this time...I won't-!"

"Hm, stupid..."

Sean gasped softly as he stopped running. He looked down at Meg in his arms and saw a little smile upon her doll-like face and her crystal blue eyes shimmering from underneath her thick eyelashes. "Meg..."

"You never let me down," Meg whispered softly, raising her hand to cup his wet cheek. "So don't say things like that, okay?"

The blue haired boy stared down at her in shock, still in disbelief that she had come back alive. However, before he could relish her return, the sound of Eternus' crazed scream snapped him out of his thoughts.

Instinctively, he started to run again.

Once he got out from the staircase chamber, he didn't stop to catch his breath and continued to run down the long hallways of Krylin's castle.

But before he could find his way back to the entrance hall, he stopped in his tracks.

"...Sean?" Meg asked weakly, peering up at his face. She saw his closed eyes and then reopen. There was a different light to his eyes as he went over to place her down next to a large statue.

"Sean?" Meg asked again, seeing him draw his heavy Tavar axe. "What are you doing?"

"I'm tired of running."

"Eh?"

"All I've been doing is running and being a coward. I'm scared...but I'm not going to be afraid anymore. I don't want to run anymore." Sean knelt down in front of Meg and saw the worry in her eyes. He knew that she was worried about him.

Gently he reached out and touched her soft blond hair. "All you've seen of me is how much of an unconfident coward I was..."

Meg glanced down to his hand that gripped his axe and saw it trembling. He was scared, but his voice didn't waver in the slightest.

Sean noticed her staring and he looked down at his trembling. "Oh..." he let out a sheepish laugh, stammering, "look at that...I can't- I can't get it to stop-" He widened his eyes when he saw Meg place her delicate hand over his, ceasing his trembling.

"I know you aren't a coward. I never saw you as one," Meg smiled warmly at him. She gently squeezed his hand and whispered, "but I'd like to see a brave Sean. Can you show me him?"

Wiping away at his last tears with his other hand, Sean nodded. "I-I can."

"Where is he then?" Meg asked softly, leaning back against the statue. Her eyelids were fluttering open and closed and Sean knew that she didn't have much energy left in her.

The blue haired boy leaned forward on his knees and took her slim hand in his. He kissed her fully, feeling the receding warmth of her lips for the last time. He pulled away just as Meg took her last breath. "He's right here..." he whispered, cradling her face.

Sean smiled at her and brought her hand up to kiss her soft knuckles before placing it on her white gowned lap.

"I'll show you, Meg."

He heard a disturbance in the air and he knew that Eternus had finally caught up with them.

"...I'll show you the Sean you've always wanted to see."

Sean turned to face the fairy and saw that she was completely taken over with madness. He saw her eyes dart over to Meg and she suddenly screamed.

"How dare you! Releasing her from the tree before the process was complete! I'll kill you! I'll kill you for ruining Lord Xeros!"

* * *

><p>His shoulder length dark purple hair curtained his face as he fell to his knees. He gasped in pain, as if it was hard for him to breath.<p>

"Without the seed's power..." Lia stepped forward and tapped his shoulder with her the tip of her staff. When it didn't go through him, she muttered, "you're still weak. Don't underestimate the power of the seal Grendel and Five Heroes used on you back then."

Alice slowly got up onto her feet and picked up her polearm. Her blue eyes warily watched Xeros. Something inside of her didn't feel as if all was right and she wished that Lia would move away from the man.

"L-" Before Alice could say her name, she heard Xeros chuckle softly under his breath.

"The seal, you say?"

Xeros raised his head and in a flash, he took hold of his spear and swung it at her. However, Lia was faster than him and she managed to teleport away before she could be slashed at.

Alice jumped back as well, avoiding his attack, but she soon found out losing her footing. She fell back onto the ground, suddenly feeling her strength leave her.

"Alice!" Dante came up to her side and knelt down, worriedly holding her by the shoulders. "What's wrong?" he asked hastily.

"U-Uhm, it's nothing...I just..." Alice brought her claw hand up to her head and gently touched her forehead with the sharp black tips.

"She's unable to control the power of darkness," Xeros answered, gazing at them impassively. "Sooner or later, both the Beholder and Beserker spirits will consume her whole." He grinned, as if he enjoyed that very idea.

Dante grit his teeth and spat out hatefully, "screw you!"

"Dante..." Alice whispered weakly.

The archer returned his attention to Alice and saw her gently pushing him away. "What are you doing?"

"I have to fight," she breathed out, trying to get back on her feet.

"Are you insane?" he asked incredulously. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"But Lia..."

Dante heard the loud sounds of the roaring fires Lia conjured up and he saw the mage putting up a decent fight against Xeros.

"And Xin..."

The archer saw the crusader slowly coming up to them, the shard of rock still embedded in his eye. Xin flashed him a little smile and knelt down on the other side of Alice.

"Get up," he said gently, taking her hand.

"Hey-!"

"Do you not trust Alice?" Xin asked Dante. "Alice is strong...she's capable of handling herself. All you need to do is support her."

Dante widened his eyes and looked down at Alice in his arms. All she did was smile at him.

"I'll be okay," she whispered, "just believe in me."

Torn on how to act, Dante's speech faltered. "I-"

That's when Xin decided to take the initiative and hoist Alice up onto her feet, pulling her right out of Dante's arms.

"Go. Help Lia, we'll be right there if you need help."

Alice nodded, then went off to assist the fire mage in her fight against Xeros.

All the while, Xin peered down at Dante and muttered, "if you continue to hesitate like that, you'll get of your both yourselves killed."

Dante set his jaw, glaring at the crusader. "Then do you want me to send her to her death!?"

"Who said she'll die?"

Taken aback by Xin's response, Dante remained speechless.

"Alice has the wings. She only needs the freedom to fly." Xin turned to Dante. "You're the one currently robbing her of that freedom; you're the one holding her back." He narrowed his deep blue eyes at the archer and muttered, "maybe Alice would be better off making the contract with me."

"...What?"

"Despite what you believe," Xin drew his Doombringer, "we carry the same blood, you and I."

"What are you talking about?"

"There may have been that same attraction Alice had towards both of us; the one that Xeros was talking about, but haven't you ever thought that we looked a bit similar?" Xin flashed a little smile when he saw Dante's look of surprise. "Maybe that's why Alice was attracted to both of us too."

"Then-why?"

"Alec Kyudo...is my father too. Guess that makes you my older brother, huh?"

The more Dante stared at Xin, the more he saw himself reflected back. If the warrior had straighter hair and red eyes, then quite possibly they could even be passed off as twins. His mouth was slightly agape in shock. All this time he had a little brother...

"Since you're my older brother, I expect you to act cooler."

Dante quirked his eyebrow and realized that Xin had gotten back onto the subject concerning Alice.

"You may be _my _older brother, but to Alice, I'm hers and if your hesitance is going to get her killed, I won't allow it."

He didn't say anything to the crusader. Instead, Dante got up onto his feet, grabbing his discarded Arund.

"No."

Xin felt the corners of his mouth turn up when he saw Dante step forward. "Did you finally find your resolve?"

"Maybe. I only want to save Alice. That's all," Dante replied. He left the crusader, not waiting to hear another word from him.

Xin looked on after him. He chuckled softly as he held his broken Doombringer. It wasn't like he could jump into battle in this state. He stabbed his sword into the ground and sighed as the weapon broke into large fragments.

"That's a good answer..."

* * *

><p>Alice and Lia were both switching off on defending and attacking.<p>

Even though Alice was more fatigued than Lia, she couldn't help, but notice the fire mage's slow reactions, a bit unusual from her usually quick reaction times.

"Lia, are you okay?" Alice asked, fending off Xeros' attack and watching him jump back several feet.

"He's getting harder to detect," the mage admitted. "He was already hard to detect from the start. I can't feel his body heat and I can't sense any mana from him. I'm only keeping up with my ears, but he's getting faster and quieter."

Alice knew they were in trouble if this continued, especially with Lia virtually blind at this point.

Suddenly a large phoenix came shooting down from the air and burst into flames just before it hit the ground in front of Xeros.

The spearman looked over in the direction from where the fire bird came from and she saw Dante poised ready to strike.

"Dante!" she exclaimed happily, seeing as how he was back up on his feet and no longer suffering from the after effects of Xeros reaching into him.

The archer made a small acknowledgement to Alice before he focused his attention to Lia. For a while now, he had noticed her sluggish movement from afar.

"Lia, take Xin and get out of here," he ordered.

"Eh-?"

Lia immediately responded, "I'm not leaving this unfinished."

"You're only being a hinderance. Alice is going out of her way to protect you. You're putting her in danger too," Dante stated bluntly, almost in a cold tone.

The mage pursed her red lips. "I know you hate me, Dante. But to say it to such a degree-" She was cut off when suddenly a large crescent shaped wave of dark energy slammed into her back.

It sent her flying and instinctively, Dante went to catch her, only to be tossed back as well.

The two crashed into a wall with a loud boom.

"Dante! Lia!" Alice cried out. She whipped towards Xeros and grit her teeth as she mercilessly charged towards him.

Her Eviscerator, now a large black scythe, swung back and forth, slicing only air as Xeros dodged her attacks easily.

He grinned as he finally held out a hand and grabbed her scythe by the pole. "Is that really all you can do? The Beholder granted you all of this armor and the Beserker granted you this weapon, and yet you still cannot lay a finger on me." Xeros' deep purple eyes glowed menacingly as he grinned. "Why not just give up this power? You obviously cannot handle it at all."

"I can!" Alice yelled, ripping the scythe out of his hands and swinging it down on him again, plunging the sharp tip into the ground deeply. Her eyes widened when she realized that he was no longer in front of her.

"Are you sure?" Xeros asked, touching her shoulder from behind.

Startled, Alice pulled out her weapon and swung it around, only to have him disappear again.

"How could such great power be controlled by a meek little lamb like you?"

Alice grit her teeth when she heard him behind her again. But this time before she could attack him again, she felt a hand wrap around her neck and simply lift her up right off the ground.

She choked and struggled as Xeros effortlessly held her up by the neck.

"I guess I'll just have to beat it out of you."

He threw her off to the side and Alice crashed into the ground hard enough so that she left a sizeable crater.

* * *

><p>Dante grunted as he felt Lia get up off of him. Pain was shooting through his body from the impact.<p>

"Dante, I-" Lia attempted to apologize, but was met with a touch on the hand.

"I don't want your apologies."

She bowed her head and stammered out sheepishly, "o-of course, you told me that before-"

"I just want to help Alice. I can't do that with you here."

Feeling the sting from Dante's words, Lia remained silent. However, before she could pull her hand away from his, he stopped her.

"Dante?"

Lia felt him squeeze her hand and utter only two words.

_"Sharp Eyes."_

She gasped at the sudden sensation that ran through her body. It was quick, like a jolt of electricity, but she wasn't quite sure what he had done.

"Athena taught me this skill personally. It's an old elven technique to heighten their archery. It allows them to see better. To sharpen their eyesight...even though it's only temporary..."

Lia trembled as she felt Dante reach around her head to untie the bandages that covered her eyes. Slowly as each layer came off, she saw more and more light.

Finally when the last layer came unwrapped, she shook when she finally came face to face with Dante.

At the first sight of him, Lia nearly burst into tears, but when Dante placed his hands on her shoulders she knew that now was not the time.

"It's only temporary," he reminded her again.

He watched his mother nod her head as she wiped away loose tears. "Silly me, I can't seem to-"

"I understand why you did all those things in the past."

"What-?"

Lia widened her eyes when she felt Dante bring her in for a loose embrace.

"I don't forgive you, but I understand why," he whispered, pulling away from her. Wordlessly, Dante picked up his bow and gave her a fleeting glance before smiling just a little bit. "I hope you understand my reasoning as well."

Lia stood there for a while, silently, watching him run off to aid Alice. Finally she blinked away her tears and laughed softly. "Just like your father."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_So things will be coming to an end! _

_Next chapter, I'll hopefully be able to wrap everything up...so it'll probably be a pretty long chapter. _

_YES, I'M SORRY. I KILLED MINNA AND IVAN. I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON THAT SHOULD DROWN IN A VAT OF ACID RIGHT NOW. _

_But yeah...I know they were a "fan favorite" pairing and set of characters...but I did what needed to be done for the sake of the story :I The effects of Ivan's sacrifice will be shown in the next chapter when Krylin's army starts to clash with the Aegis. _


	30. First Experiment

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 30 - First Experiment**

Ada swiftly sliced the neck of the soldier in front of her. His blood and many others' coated her steely as she wasted no time in moving onto the rest of them.

"It's like there's no end to them!" she exclaimed, coming back to back with Cedric. Sweat and dry blood coated her dirty hands as she tried to get a better grip on her knives.

"Krylin was definitely prepared," Cedric muttered under his breath. "Even all of the Aegis platoons here...who knew we'd be this outnumbered?"

"Too many deserted us back when there were evacuations to Ossyria."

"Look!" a soldier suddenly shouted, pointing up into the sky.

Both Ada and Cedric looked up and saw a massive horde of dragons coming in along with a large flying battleship. Both thieves widened their eyes, knowing full well that the ship they were seeing wasn't theirs.

"That can't be...Queen Nackt's army, right?"

The flying dragons opened up their mouths and shot out multiple fireballs, all directed at the Aegis troops.

"Mana Guard, now!" the elderly priest platoon leader shouted.

A large clear mana shield was conjured up by the mages and managed to block the massive fire attack.

"Damn it," Cedric clenched his fists, "don't tell me Krylin managed to get Horntail on her side as well?"

"Well, it'd explain the dragons..." Ada commented, staring up at the sky, now blackened with smoke and ash.

Up above, they could hear the ear piercing screeches of the black dragons that were now circling the skies, raining down fireballs onto the Aegis army. While the mages managed to keep up the barrier, it was starting to weaken.

"At this rate, they'll corner us since we can't attack!" the assassin shouted.

"We never expected Krylin to take control of the skies in this battle. The only way we could bring that thing down is if we use our ships too, but they aren't fit for battle." Cedric furrowed his brow in thought. "Nackt's reinforcements better get here soon or else-"

There was a loud cracking noise. The mana shield was breaking.

"Don't back down now!" the priest platoon leader shouted to the mages.

Cedric and Ada readied themselves when they saw the breakdown of the mana guard. When the rush of soldiers came charging at them, Cedric stopped Ada briefly before she could rush off to fight.

"Be careful, Ada."

"Ha?" She turned to him and smirked. "You should probably be careful yourself. Don't you dare start worrying about me."

Cedric chuckled softly at her answer, expecting such a response from her. "Of course." He took his hand off of her shoulder, but before he could, he felt Ada grab a hold of his wrist and pull him down to her.

She kissed him deeply, but pulled away quickly after.

Cedric stared at her in shock, blushing softly. "A-Ada-?"

The black haired assassin smiled, not even the slightest hint of a blush on her face. "Don't look so surprised. Are you going to be like this in the future too?" She turned around to face the incoming army. "Come on. We need to get going."

* * *

><p>A sharp breath left his lips as he stopped abruptly.<p>

He had finally discovered the entrance to Krylin's castle, but found it to be in complete ruins. The ground was strewn in spires and spikes of ice, large holes, and arrows.

His steel gray eyes quietly assessed the area as he walked through the battleground.

"...Wait," a hoarse voice called out to him.

Alec turned his head and saw a man slumped up against a tree. He ran up to him urgently, seeing as how his head was bleeding profusely.

"Please," the man coughed out. His blue eyes went down to Alec's hand and saw the old Aegis symbol tattooed on his skin. "Ah...good you're with the Aegis." Without waiting for Alec's response, the brown haired man whispered out, "please...I'm a platoon leader, Froid Hermes. Please...please go find Sean Everard."

Alec flinched at the mention of Sean's last name, but he simply nodded at Froid. "Where did he go?"

"We..." Froid breathed heavily, weakly as he struggled to speak. "We got separated. We got ambushed by Krylin's underlings before we could get inside."

Alec raised his head and saw two unconscious, red haired archers tied to a tree a few feet away. The ice chain that bound them shimmered slightly with mana.

"I'm sure the Aegis will get here soon...take them as prisoners." Froid chuckled softly and weakly raised his hand over to the castle. "I lost of them...a buccaneer. He's strong...but I managed to weaken him. Still...if he catches up to Sean-" The ice mage violently coughed.

The assassin handed him a white potion. "I'm sure some healers will get here soon."

"Thank you," Froid whispered, taking the potion.

As Alec stood up on his feet, he heard a weak whimper off to the side. He turned his attention towards the source of the sound and saw a husky lying on its side, its tongue hanging out from its mouth and its stomach rising and falling with each weak breath.

"The bastard that fled...guess he doesn't like dogs too much," Froid muttered.

Alec walked up to the husky and knelt down beside him.

"He's Sean's...but I'm sure he'd forgive you." Froid looked on sadly at the whimpering dog. "He deserves to be put out of his misery."

Alec reached out to pet the husky on its soft head. It whimpered softly again, its body riddled with pain. His hand went down to the tattered brown collar around its neck and he cleared away the soft fur away from the metal name tag. Eyes widening at the name of the husky, Alec quickly let go of the metal tag and rubbed the dog behind its ear.

"I'll make it quick then...so that it won't hurt," he whispered, pulling out a steely from his pouch.

* * *

><p>The air felt heavy and thick with dust and debris.<p>

Alice grunted as she was thrown back down on the ground again. However, before Xeros could land another hit on her, Dante blocked it.

As soon as Xeros brought down his spear on Dante the bowman blocked it with his Arund, but it wasn't without a consequence.

"Ah!" Dante cried out in pain from the sheer force of the blow revibrating through his arm.

"Dante!" Alice got up onto her knees and came up beside him.

Xeros grinned as he stood over the two. "Stay out of the way, Dante. Unless you want to be cut down as well."

Dante held his injured arm and glared up at the dark knight. "If you want to get to Alice, you'll have to get through me first," he whispered lowly under his breath.

"Dante!" the blue haired girl exclaimed, urging him silently to keep quiet by tugging on his uninjured arm.

"So is this the extent of the bond that's shared between the Beholder and the Beserker?" Xeros chuckled softly, finding Alice and Dante's actions amusing. "Interesting."

"Fire Demon!"

Xeros turned his head and jumped out of the way just in time to dodge Lia's fire spell. He grinned as he focused his attention on the archmage, but before he could attack her, he stopped due to a strange trembling in the chamber.

Xin, slipping in and out of consciousness, propped himself up with his arms as he whispered, "is the chamber collapsing?"

"No...the World Tree," Xeros suddenly grit his teeth in alarm. "Eternus..." he hissed under his breath, "don't tell me you failed to get the girl."

Lia looked at the towering tree in the chamber and stated, "it's sensing a disturbance. It's triggering it's defensive mechanism." She coolly turned back to Xeros and narrowed her red eyes at him. "It seems as though your reign has already come to an end."

Xeros sneered. "Already becoming overconfident? I think you're forgetting that I was the Black Mage that everyone feared years ago." He moved his spear and it created a storm of dark energy that slowly formed and swirled around him. "People still fear me." He chuckled as the energy swirled around him violently.

The fire mage suddenly let out a soft gasp when she realized that her vision was failing again. Things were starting to become dark and blurry with each blink of her eyes. "No one...fears you."

The purple haired man immediately noticed this and laughed softly. "Foolish Lia...or should I say, Cecilia? How could you say that?"

In a blink of an eye, Lia felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Her red eyes widened when she saw Xeros in front of her.

"_You_ still fear me."

Alice and Dante both stared in complete shock, seeing Lia completely impaled through by Xeros' spear. It was Alice who reacted first.

"Lia!" she screamed, as Xeros sharply ripped the spear out of Lia's stomach.

Alice rushed up to the mage and caught her just before she fell to the ground. Her hands trembled and her breath shook erractically as she cried softly in disbelief. "N-No! Lia...please-!"

"How touching!" Xeros brought back his spear to attack Alice while she was defenseless, but a golden arrow hit his spear before he could.

"Your fight's with me now!" Dante shouted, drawing the dark knight's attention from the two women.

Alice could barely hear or notice Xeros going after Dante. She simply sat there, holding Lia in her arms. Her mind was numb as she held her dying platoon leader. "L-Lia," she stammered out, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Lia's eyes slowly reopened and she smiled tearfully. "Ah...I'm glad I have a chance to see your face, Alice. No wonder Dante's attracted to you. Such a pretty girl...just as how I envisioned you to be." The fire mage reached up to touch Alice's blue bangs as she giggled softly.

The warrior cried as she felt Lia's fingers lightly play with the ends of her hair.

"Lia..."

Alice gasped softly when she saw Lia's hand falling. She stared at the archmage's face with wide, surprised eyes; watching Lia's eyelids slowly droop down to a close. Desperately, she grasped at the platoon leader's hand, squeezing it gently and hoping that Lia would squeeze her hand back.

But there was nothing.

Lia was dead.

Tears streamed down the smooth plains of Alice's cheeks as she cried softly. "L-Lia..." she whimpered, bringing the woman close to her.

A weakened Xin, slowly made his way towards the two women. "Alice," he hoarsely whispered out.

The warrior tearfully turned her head around to face him. "She's gone, Xin."

Xin knelt down beside her and closed his eye. "She is." He gently placed his hand over hers. "You can't bring her back now."

Alice stared blankly down at the black haired woman. She sniffled softly, brushing her hand gently down the smooth curve of Lia's face. "Xeros..." she muttered.

"Huh?" Xin watched as Alice lifted Lia out of her lap and gently placed her on the ground. "Alice? What are you-?"

The spearman stood up on her feet and extended her arm out to the side. Her Eviscerator, still in the form of a dark red and black scythe, flew over to her and she caught it by the pole tightly.

"Alice...! Don't do anything reckless! I-!"

"I don't want to lose anyone else. Please..." Alice sniffled and brought her hand up to wipe away her tears.

Before Xin could stop her, Alice turned around and propelled herself directly towards Xeros, who was in the middle of fighting Dante.

Caught off-guard by her sudden attack, Xeros had no time to prepare himself as she rammed her spear into his stomach.

Alice grit her teeth as she pinned him down on the ground. She placed her foot on his thigh as she twisted her Eviscerator deeper into his body. Her face was contorted into pure anger as she watched him gag on his own blood.

"Alice..." Dante whispered, widening his eyes at how brutal she was. He was badly beaten from his brief fight with Xeros, but had enough energy left to stand.

Xeros chuckled as he looked up at Alice. "What is this? Is this revenge for Cecilia?"

"Don't say her name! You have no right to!" Alice screamed.

The purple haired man let out a low cry as she dragged her polearm through his body.

Alice saw this and continued ripping through his body, but before she could cut clean across his abdomen, suddenly Xeros' face straightened out and his mouth curled up into a smirk.

"Did you really think you could kill me, little lamb?"

Alice gasped when he grabbed a hold of her polearm and effortlessly pulled it out of him and swung her around. She promptly was tossed onto the ground and was immediately pulled up onto her knees by her arms.

She grunted as Xeros held one of her arms behind her back, pulling on it slightly to cause her some discomfort.

"Alice-!"

"Ah, ah." Xeros wagged a finger at Dante. "One more step and I'll break one of her fragile little arms." He twisted Alice's arm slightly and the warrior screamed in pain.

"That's a dirty little tactic! Using her as a hostage!"

"Dirty?" Xeros threw his head back and laughed. In the process, he gave Alice's arm a strong yank - a loud popping sound, dislocating it.

Alice widened her blue eyes and let out a piercing cry, tears falling down her cheeks at the immense pain of her dislocated arm.

Dante, with no hesitation, ran up to Xeros and wrapped his hands around the man's neck, attempting to get him away from Alice. "You bastard-!"

The dark knight let go of Alice's arm and placed his hand on Dante's chest. A strong dark energy pulsated out of his hand and it sent Dante flying back.

Dante fell onto his sides a few feet away, feeling the energy leave his body. He lifted his head slightly, just in time to see Xeros grab a fistful of Alice's blue hair.

He pulled her up roughly so that they met at eye level. "Do you understand, little lamb? There will be no revenge for your platoon leader and there is no possible way that you can be Dante's master."

Xeros threw her down on the ground and stepped on her head. He chuckled as he ground the heel of his black boot into her skull. "You fail to control the powers of darkness. And what was that? You so confidently declared Dante as your amplifier? Don't even joke!"

He drew back and kicked her in the stomach, causing her to roll over on the ground.

Before Xeros could walk over to Alice, he felt a rock hit the back of his head.

"Huh?" He lazily turned around and saw Dante on the ground, glaring at him with teeth bared as he struggled to get back up on his feet.

"Get...away...from her," he growled out, his whole body shaking as he stood up.

Laughing wryly, Xeros kicked the rock that Dante had thrown. "Do you realize what you're getting yourself into? Why do you insist on protecting such a feeble and weak girl, Beserker spirit-?"

He stopped when he felt Dante's hand wrap around his neck.

"Let's get one thing straight," Dante struggled to speak. He raised his head and glared at the spearman with his blood red eyes. "I'm not the Beserker spirit. My name is Dante." His hand tightened around the dark knight's neck. "And screw the Beholder and Beserker spirits. I know I'm not attracted to the Beholder spirit. I'm attracted to Alice...and _only_ her."

Xeros chuckled softly, amused by what Dante had said. "You can say that all you want, but..." He grabbed the archer's wrist and smirked. "You can't deny the natural order of things. The Beholder and Beserker spirits are attracted to each other for the desire of power."

He ripped away Dante's hand from his neck and easily threw the archer several feet away, as if he were made out of paper.

Dante grunted as he crashed onto the ground. The breath was knocked right out of him and he lay there, stunned and his whole body numb.

"You're both naive," Xeros stated as he turned back towards Alice. "I suppose that's an endearing trait to have." He went up to the fallen spearman and hoisted her up by the neck. He smiled when he saw Alice's face, bruised and dirtied, with her blue eyes staring back at him weakly. "Or not."

Dante got onto his stomach and raised his head to see Xeros lifting Alice up by the neck. "Stop..." he breathed out.

Xeros squeezed her neck and immediately her armor shattered. Her scythe disappeared and her Eviscerator burst into a dozen pieces.

Alice lifelessly stared into the dark knight's eyes as she felt fragments of her heavy armor rain down past her skin and onto the ground. She had no more power left.

Dante staggered to his feet, breathing heavily as he slowly went towards them.

"Why don't you just give up? You obviously have no means to master the powers of darkness," Xeros whispered into Alice's ear. "Just give up and accept defeat."

He let go of her and she fell to the ground. Like a rag doll, Alice fell to her sides limply and laid there. She didn't even have the strength left to cry anymore.

"Alice!" Dante limped over to her and fell to his knees. He scooped up her naked form into his arms and made sure that he didn't touch her broken arm. He gently stroked her face, seeing that she had fallen unconscious.

"How sweet," Xeros cooed, grabbing his spear. "The Beserker - I mean - _Dante_ willing to stay by the lamb's side until the end."

Dante glared up at the dark knight, finding himself growing irritated at the mocking tone of voice he used. "Go fuck yourself," he growled, voice low and dripping with an intent to kill.

"Is that your answer? Don't think just because you're the Beserker that I won't hesitate to kill you. At this point, if this is all Athena's secret weapon is capable of, then I'm unstoppable-!"

"Stop."

Xeros raised an eyebrow and turned around to see Xin standing a few feet away from him. "Excuse me?" he drawled out.

Dante curiously stared at Xin, holding his coat for him. "Xin..."

"Dante," Xin smiled gently as he tossed the archer's black coat over to him. "Take Alice and get out of here."

"What...?"

"Xeros...you have your amplifier right here."

"Xin!" Dante shouted, alarmed at what the crusader was saying.

"Oh?" Xeros, interested at what Xin was saying. "Are you implying that you have the Kyudo bloodline running in your veins?"

"I'm not implying. I'm stating." The crusader stared directly at Xeros, his blue eye hardened into a determined and confident gaze. "My real name is Xin Kyudo. Alec was my father. If you want an amplifier, then take it."

Xeros laughed at Xin's actions. "How interesting, going to such a length to protect these two lovebirds? What is your purpose? Why should I choose you over Dante?"

Xin looked over at Dante and saw the archer's red eyes widened in worry and brow furrowed in confusion as to why he was doing this. Smiling gently, Xin whispered, "I'm Alice and Dante's brother...I can't bear to see them suffering anymore because of this fate." He paused for a minute, then looked back at Xeros. "Now go."

"Xin..."

"Go," he replied firmly.

Dante grit his teeth and wrapped Alice up in his coat. He took her up into his arms and without looking back at Xin, he ran out of the chamber.

Xeros simply let them leave, watching them until they disappeared into the corridors. He turned his attention back to Xin and asked, "you know that if you're lying, I can just as easily kill you and bring them back here?"

The chamber shook, trembling from the earthquakes that the World Tree was producing.

Xin stood his ground and calmly stated, "I'm not lying. I am a better choice than Dante. He will refuse to become your amplifier, whereas I am doing this willingly."

"Quite the strange one you are." Xeros chuckled as he plunged his spear into the ruined rubble. An arcane circle appeared beneath him and the winds around them whipped around almost violently.

Before Xin could prepare himself, he barely saw the dark knight's hand reach out towards him and plunge into his chest.

"Then let us honor your wish, Xin Kyudo."

Xeros gave a violent yank, moving his hand around inside of Xin as he tried to grab at the crusader's soul.

Xin widened his dark blue eyes and threw his head back as he let out a loud, blood curdling scream.

* * *

><p>Dante heard him, but he didn't stop.<p>

He simply closed his eyes at the sound of Xin's scream and continued to run up the long stairway back up to the main castle. He _wanted_ to go back, to save Xin, but he had to get Alice to safety first.

In addition...

"Ugh!" Dante stumbled as he got to the top of the stairway and he fell on his knees. He breathed heavily as he felt immensely fatigued. There was no point in going back to help Xin when he barely had the strength to walk.

He panted as he looked down at Alice, still unconscious.

He had to keep going, for her sake.

Quickly he kissed her forehead and grunted as he stood up on his feet again. Just as he did, he spotted a man coming down the corridor, running.

At first he thought it was one of Krylin's soldiers but his suspicions went away when the man stopped in front of him and showed no hostility.

"Where is he?" he breathed out. "Xeros?"

Dante, still slightly wary of the mysterious man, stepped out of the way, revealing the large door that led down to the World Tree. "Down there." He spotted the Aegis mark on the man's right hand, but from what he recognized, it was the old one. Was this man a deserter?

"Get up to safety. One of your platoon leaders, Froid, is up there."

Before the man could descend down the flight of stairs, Dante called out to him.

"Wait!"

The man whipped his head around and shouted, "there's no time! Now go!"

For the first time, Dante got a good look at his face and he widened his red eyes in realization. Without another word, Dante left the man, running through the castle trying to get back up to the surface.

As he did, he made sure he didn't trip over any of the dozens of dead soldiers' bodies that littered the corridors.

He noticed that many of them had several steelies sticking out of their vital points and he figured that the man that he had encountered earlier must have done all this.

"Maybe Xin has a chance..." he muttered under his breath. "Especially with an assassin like Alec."

* * *

><p>Cedric grunted as a deflected a sword with his Varkit dagger and slashed through his assailant cleanly through the stomach. He wiped away the stray blood splatter on his cheek with the back of his hand as he backed up against Ada.<p>

"Don't you think they seem...a bit in disorder?" he asked his martyr.

"I've noticed for a while now. It's like they don't know what they should be doing."

Cedric blocked another attack and swiftly kicked the soldier down and threw a sharp star down in between his eyes. "And that ship..." He turned his head up to look at the large battleship that was simply hovering above Krylin's army. "It hasn't launched an attack at all. I know that's probably a good thing, but...why?"

"Idiot...haven't you noticed how there was no one leading the charge?"

"Huh?"

Ada motioned to the sea of armies. "I can easily pinpoint the Aegis platoon leaders because of their audacity, but do you see any of Krylin's soldiers doing the same?"

The green haired bandit blinked as he took a look around. "You're right..."

Ada let out a disgruntled sigh and muttered, "jeez, you're supposed to be more observant about these things. You're the platoon leader, not me." She rolled her eyes when Cedric simple let out a sheepish chuckle.

"Anyways...this means that Krylin's army has no leader. It's the only thing that makes sense. There's no way that they're in this much disarray with a leader."

"Mm..."

There was a sudden loud bang that halted the fighting on the ground. It was the sound of metal, screeching and grinding against each other.

"Look!" Ada exclaimed, pointing up at the large ship.

The hull of the battleship opened up slowly, it's metal doors expanding out to the sides.

"Damn it...we spoke too soon." Cedric looked up at the ship and widened his green eyes at the sight of several bombs. His breath quickened when he noticed the ship slowly moving over the battle field. "It's going for Henesys!" he shouted, looking back down at the deserted city. Its normally bright orange topped mushroom houses seemed dull because of the cloudy, smoke filled skies.

"How do we stop it!?" the assassin shouted, panicking.

"Our ships are in Ellinia, they aren't going to get here in time-!" Cedric stopped when he saw a single bomb being released.

The heavy black bomb fell to the earth, the air whistling past it as it dropped like a heavy weight. However, before it could fall any further, a speedy missile shot through the air and in a blink of an eye, it made contact with the bomb and the two exploded in the skies above the army. Metal shrapnel and smoke burst and fell to the ground in an arc, as if it were creating an umbrella over the troops.

"What-?" Ada breathed out, looking over towards Henesys, In the skies, she saw a large...

"...Is that a whale?" she asked skeptically. "A flying whale...?"

Cedric widened his eyes and laughed as he realized what it was. "No...that's not it. It's-"

* * *

><p>"About time she decided to show up," Dark Lord grinned under his mask as he looked out over the horizon.<p>

Athena came up beside him and asked with anticipation in her voice, "is that-?"

"Yep. I guess all my persistent visits finally got her to leave the oceans around Aqua Road and join us." He chuckled and set his sights on the large, whale-shaped battleship. "Always fashionably late, aren't you Kyrin?"

* * *

><p>"Send all engines into full power! Give us the maximum speed!"<p>

"But Captain-!"

The fiery redhead female captain turned back to her vice-captain and raised an eyebrow at the blind, tanned man. "What was that Muirhat?"

"The ship! You'll run the ship to the ground!" he warned fervently.

"Heh, the Nautilus is made for battles like this!" Without a second thought, Kyrin grinned and pushed the large lever forward. "Full speed ahead! We'll see who has the better ship!"

* * *

><p>Dante managed to make it into the entrance hall of Krylin's castle. As he made his way towards the large double doors leading to the outside, he stopped suddenly when he saw several bodies strewn out over the floor.<p>

Slowly he walked past Eternus' body, the fairy stabbed multiple times with more than a dozen throwing stars and steelies. Just a few feet away from her, he recognized the man to be Fleischer, also surrounded in a pool of his own blood.

He let out a soft, sharp sigh when he spotted the last two bodies nearest to the entrance.

It was Sean and Meg.

Dante gently tightened his grip around Alice's arm, seeing that her little brother was dead. The young boy seemed as though he was placed down next to Meg, propped up against the base of a statue as if someone put him to rest there.

Without spending anymore time in this grim environment, Dante rushed out of the castle, leaving the darkness behind him.

Up ahead, he spotted Froid sitting against one of the trees nearby.

"Froid," he said, gaining the ice mage's attention.

He didn't look good himself. Froid turned his head slowly and pushed up his broken glasses up onto his nose. "Ah...Mr. Kyudo, I'm glad to see that you're okay."

Dante knelt down and placed Alice on the ground next to Froid. He moved his jacket slightly so that he could better cover her body. "When are the healers getting here?" the bowmaster asked.

Froid let out a weak cough, leaning back against the tree. "I-I'm not sure. I reckon that most of them are in Henesys." He sighed and muttered, "sure do wish that they would get here soon."

The mage looked down at Alice and asked, "is she-?"

"No," Dante replied hastily. "She's fine." He quickly brushed his hand over her cheek. "For now."

"That's...good." Froid smiled weakly. "And what about Sean? You wouldn't have happened to see him on the way here?"

Dante looked away from the brunette man.

Froid dropped his gaze and chuckled solemnly. "I figured...Sean probably knew too, that he would die once he stepped foot into that castle. Perhaps that is the only thing I regret. I couldn't protect anyone."

"That's why you get a martyr."

Froid thoughtfully looked at Dante and asked, "is that what you think, Mr. Kyudo? Even though the Aegis entrusts martyrs with the duty to protect their platoon leaders, it is the other way around. The platoon leaders are the ones that should defend and protect their platoon at all costs, even their martyrs. That is why I don't have a martyr. I'm incapable of defending anyone other than myself."

He chuckled dryly at himself.

Dante stared at the ice mage for a while before he moved his gaze down to Alice. He gently touched the top of her head and ran his fingers through her smooth blue hair. "I see..."

* * *

><p>Xeros clicked his tongue as he gently nudged Xin's shoulder with his foot.<p>

"Indeed you weren't lying." He grinned as he held the crusader's soul stone in his hand. The glittering gem-like substance glowing in his hand.

Xeros brought his soul to his lips, attempting to consume it, but he was stopped when several steelies flew at his arms and embedded themselves deeply inside his flesh.

The dark knight seemed unfazed by the pain as he dropped the hand that held the gem. "Hm?" he mused, looking over in the direction from where the steelies came from. "Is that really you...? Alec?" He grinned evilly when he saw the assassin step out from the corridors and onto the destroyed stone bridge. "How nice of you to join us! Come!" Xeros held out his hand, but was met with another steely.

It stabbed into the middle of his palm.

"You won't be taking that soul." Alec whipped out another steely from his armband. "It won't benefit you anyhow."

"And suddenly you're an expert at this?"

The assassin suddenly disappeared from sight and at that moment, Xeros felt the cool edge of a knife being pressed up against his neck. Alec hooked his arm underneath the dark knight's own arm, restraining from behind.

"That's because what you're holding is not a soul."

"What?" Xeros hissed out.

Alec cleanly sliced the knight's neck and plunged his knife into his wrist, causing him to drop the glittering gem. Alec caught it in midair and disappeared from behind Xeros.

The dark knight whipped around back to Xin and saw Alec scoop the young man up into his arms, then disappearing again.

"You're a fool! That's your son and yet you dare say he doesn't possess the same powers as you or Dante!?"

Alec reappeared several feet away and held the gem close to Xin's heart. "Yes, he is my son, but he was not born the same way as Dante was. This soul in my hands is a fake."

Xeros watched, his purple eyes widening with each passing second as the glittering gem within Alec's hands vanished into a swirl of sparkling dust.

"Then that boy-!?"

"I understood that Dr. Everard was working on a way to create bioweapons. Real, breathing humans..." Alec looked down at Xin, running his thumb over the crusader's smooth cheek. "She exceeded my expectations greatly, taking my blood and using it to create Xin. It was perfect and as it turns out," Alec smiled when he saw Xin give a soft gasp as he resumed breathing again. "I was right and you took the bait."

Xeros clenched his fists, but tried keeping his cool composure. "So...what you're telling me is that-"

"Xin isn't real. He's just a being created from my blood. A being programmed to protect Dante from you."

The crusader slowly opened up his eyes and Xeros saw another soul stone being formed underneath his chest. It shined brightly for a brief second before it dimmed away.

"Her first successful experiment...Xin."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_HOPEFULLY I can seriously wrap up this "arc" after the next chapter. _

_Thank you to those that have reviewed the last chapter! I'm happy to see that there are people that still read this. Unfortunately, I cannot do the whole "enough reviews = faster chapters" thing at the moment. I have way too much schoolwork to catch up on so, apologies. _

_I still hope that reviews will be left! I seriously enjoy reading what you guys thought of the chapter and what might happen in the future! _

_So at this point, people have been asking me pretty much the same question. Did Alec and Julia get together? I believe this chapter answered that, but the solid answer is no. Alec asked Dr. Everard to work on creating Xin. As for why Xin calls her "mother" if you recall, Isabelle refers to Julia as her mother as well. So :) _

_Xin doesn't know that he is "not human." He's been programmed not to know. _


	31. Recovery

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 31 -Recovery**

The sounds of battle raged on. The cries of soldiers as both sides clashed violently. Above all that, the sounds of the Nautilus and Krylin's war ship brutally ramming into each other and hailing deadly bombs on their steel hulls.

"We won't last another second with such a battle!" Muirhat shouted over the internal alarms and the explosions.

Kyrin laughed, brought on by pure joy as she launched another deadly assault on Krylin's ship. "Then I suppose it's time for our final attack!" She pushed and pulled the lever controlling the Nautilus' flight.

The large warship started to hover then float up higher and higher. It flew above Krylin's warship and perched itself high above. There was an ominous silence in the air as both Aegis and Krylin's troops started up at the massive giants fighting.

Kyrin grinned as she pushed a button on the front console.

"Let's see them withstand this! Nautilus Strike!"

The massive whale-like ship opened up its hull and several bright orbs materialized in the darkness. In the blink of an eye, the whole sky was lit up in a bright light, grounding Krylin's dragons and setting her warship on fire.

The battle on the ground seemed to come to a ceasing halt, both the Aegis and Krylin's troops looking up at the violently lit skies.

After the warship erupted into an uncontrollable flame, Krylin's troops simultaneously shouted, "retreat!"

The battered troops rushed past the Aegis soldiers, who let them leave without stopping them.

"Such a quick retreat..." Ada commented, watching Krylin's troops run back up the hills of Henesys and back towards the Dungeons.

"That's what happens when you don't have a leader..." Cedric explained. "Makes you wonder what actually did happen to their general. It would be foolish of Krylin to send her troops out without one."

* * *

><p>Ellinia grew quiet again. The forest returning back to peace.<p>

"Miss Athena."

The elf turned around to see Queen Nackt standing behind her. The short, black haired woman peered up at Athena with her deep indigo colored eyes and graciously bowed for her.

Athena returned it and asked, "what is the matter?"

"I apologize deeply for not being able to advance my troops into Henesys to aid the Aegis soldiers."

"Don't say that. Your presence was needed here more than over there. We didn't take into account of how many troops Krylin would send to Ellinia. And as it turns out, our friend Kyrin has decided to join the battle in Henesys along with her crew."

"Ah I see."

Athena turned back around to the quiet town of Ellinia and lowered her eyes slowly when she spotted the snow elves that served under Nackt. "I appreciate what you're doing."

"Hm?"

"These snow elves. They were nearly driven to extinction, not to mention on how scarce elves are nowadays."

Nackt came up beside Athena and oversaw her troops, helping the fallen Aegis soldiers and tidying up Ellinia. "Ever since Queen Mercedes disappeared along with the Five Heroes, they've been struggling." Nackt turned to look at Athena and stated, "they need a leader again."

Athena noticed the determined gaze that Nackt was presenting her and the elf laughed softly, almost bitterly, under her breath. "If you're suggesting that I lead the elves back to their former glory, then you're mistaken. I'm someone that betrayed my own race by joining forces with the humans and creating the Aegis."

"Yes...there are many that believe that, however-" Nackt tightly gripped her Elemental staff "-you're the only one with the strengths needed to lead the elven race again. I think they'll be willing to give you a chance after this."

"You sound so sure about it," Athena chuckled solemnly.

Nackt didn't say anything, she only smiled. Finally she whispered, "you'd make a fine leader of the elves, Athena. After all, you've already done such a good job with the Aegis."

* * *

><p>Xeros laughed softly as he stared at Alec and Xin. "If it's really as you say, that boy's soul is unusable then..." He pulled out his spear from the ground. "I'll just take yours."<p>

Alec pulled out three steelies from his sleeve and threw them at Xeros.

As the dark knight swung his spear to block it, his purple eyes widened in bewilderment when he felt the sharp point of a steely pressed up against the back of his neck. He turned his head in the nick of time and managed to jump away just before Alec could plunge the dagger into his neck.

Xeros growled under his breath as he fought to control his emotions. It was such a close call.

"Heh," Xeros managed to chuckle despite his close brush with death. "It seems as though your skills have gotten better since we've last met."

Alec narrowed his steel gray eyes at the dark knight and muttered, "it's only natural, isn't it?"

"Hm."

Xeros glanced over at Lia's fallen body and smirked as he turned back to Alec. "Are you sure you want to suffer the same fate as your beloved wife?"

"What? Death? I don't mind. Won't we all?"

Before Xeros could respond, he briefly saw Alec disappear in front of him and then reappear behind him.

"I'll just make sure you meet that fate before I do."

Xeros gagged as he felt his neck split open from a sharp knife cut. He fell to his knees and held his bloody neck before he slowly stood back up again. A soft chuckle left his mouth as he asked the assassin, "don't you know any better? I'm the Black Mage. I'm no longer human, I'm immortal-!"

He stopped when he felt dozens of steelies stab into his back.

Alec produced several more steelies in his hands and whispered under his breath, "even immortal bastards like you die eventually."

He jumped up into the air and tossed the steelies down at Xeros, then produce more steelies.

Xeros laughed wildly as the steelies rained down upon him. He picked up his spear, despite the fact that he was now a pincushion of steelies and throwing stars. "Alec Kyudo...don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be."

He rushed out and slashed at the assassin, only to have him kick off of his spear in the split second that allowed him to do so.

Alec spun several times in the air and shot out another set of steelies in an amazing, unriveled speed. He landed on the ground and whipped out a set of throwing stars and rushed towards the staggering dark knight.

Xeros coolly pushed away his hair from his face and stabbed Alec through the chest just before he got to him. "Enough."

The black haired assassin coughed out blood, but soon disappeared into a shimmery shadow.

"Hm," Xeros contemplated amusingly, lowering his spear. "Of course, I should have expected better." He turned back to Lia's body and found it to be gone. "You want to play it like this, hm? Fine."

The dark knight peered down at Xin, finally coming around. He had no use for him anymore now that he knew Xin only carried artificial souls.

Bleeding profusely everywhere, Xeros seemed to take no mind to it as he swung down his spear and plunged it into the ground. In a whirl of dark energy, he disappeared from the chamber.

As soon as the dark knight left, Xin came to his full senses, having no recollection of what had happened. He only could remember up to the point where Xeros plunged his hand into his chest.

"Ah..." Xin groaned, holding his head. He hissed softly when he accidentally nudged at the shard of stone that was still embedded in his right eye. Silently he got up to his feet and looked around, finding the entire chamber deserted and empty.

Just as it got to be eerily quiet, the ground started to shake violently.

"The World Tree..." Xin whispered, turning his head to look up at the marvelously lush tree.

His dark blue eyes caught sight of the beginnings of decay when the leaves slowly started to turn a dead ashy gray color. His breath faltered when the ash colored leaves fell from the tree and flew all around the chamber.

"...it's dying."

* * *

><p>"What's going on?" Athena asked alarmed at the violent trembling beneath her feet. She fell to her knees, as did everyone else in Ellinia. There were cries of panic from the soldiers as the trembling went on.<p>

"The snow elves have told me that the World Tree is nearing its end, although I never expected it to happen during this battle." Nackt held her ground, trying to keep her balance.

"And how do you propose we stop this?"

From the other side of Ellinia, the docks that held the Aegis transport ships, groaned and the support beams splinted from the violent quake.

"The World Tree is dying...it needs its seed," Nackt stated. "If it can't get its seed soon, Victoria Island will fall to ruins. Miss Athena, we should retreat back to Ossyria-"

"No! We've come too far! We've finally won back our home!We can't just abandon it this early!" Athena shouted, struggling to get back up onto her feet.

The quake ceased gradually and a calm peace returned to the surroundings.

"This is only temporary. The quake will return in a short moment," Nackt replied, facing Athena. "What are you planning to do? The World Tree will not accept anyone other than its seed."

Athena grunted softly as she pushed herself up onto her feet. "Victoria Island is our home. I'm not going to let it go to waste."

Nackt curiously looked on at Athena. "Even with your elven blood, the World Tree will not accept you, nor will it be guaranteed that it will communicate with you."

"I won't know for sure if I can't try."

The ice archmage sighed softly, seeing as how she couldn't convince the elf from her goal. "The World Tree should be in the center of the island, inside the Dungeons. You'll need to be quick though. Another strong tremor like that could cause the island to break apart."

Nackt turned around and motioned to one of her generals. "Bring me a mount."

The snow elf general nodded and brought over a dark gray colored wolf with a splotch of white on it's nose. It stood just a bit smaller than a horse, but big enough so that it was mountable.

"These wolves are native to the El Nath region. Despite their appearances, they're quite meek to those that are friendly." Nackt gently petted the wolf on its head and it nuzzled her back gently. "A horse will have trouble navigating through the thick forests around Sleepywood. These wolves can overcome that problem easily. You can get there in a few hours tops."

Athena nodded as the reins for the wolf were handed over to her. She smiled as the wolf cuddled up to her instantly. "I'll take good care of him."

"Take good care of _yourself_," Nackt replied, watching the elf mount the wolf easily. "Even if you do end up communicating with the World Tree, there's no telling what it's going to demand from you in exchange for its life source."

The blond elf simply smiled before she let out a sharp 'ya' and slapped down the reins.

Like a speeding dart, the wolf bolted into the deep forests of Ellinia, guiding Athena towards the World Tree.

* * *

><p>"What the hell's going on?" Ada grumbled, rubbing her head as she followed Cedric up the hills of Henesys. "First Krylin's army is missing a general at such a crucial battle and now, these random earthquakes are happening."<p>

"Perhaps we'll find our answers when we get to Krylin's castle." Cedric looked up above the grassy green hills and solemnly sighed, "the army retreated into the Dungeons so there's no doubt that Krylin's hiding out there. The sooner we get there, the better. Hopefully everyone else is okay-"

Ada quirked an eyebrow up when she saw that Cedric had stopped walking. "Why are you stopping? We have a lot of ground to cover-" She looked in the direction where Cedric was and she too, let her speech falter and her legs freeze.

"That's not..." she whispered.

Without waiting for her to finish, Cedric ran up the hill and closed in on the body they spotted from below.

A harsh breath with fists clenched tightly, Cedric swallowed harshly when he saw Ivan's dead body on the ground in front of him. "You have to be kidding me..." he muttered, peering over just a few feet away from the corsair and seeing another man's dead body.

Ada caught up to Cedric and she too froze, disturbed by what she was seeing. "No way..." she breathed out. "Didn't-didn't Minna say he was invincible!?" Ada clenched her teeth together and threw down her hands. "Where's...where's Minna!?"

Cedric seemed to ignore Ada and he walked over to the other dead body. He rolled the man over and inspected his lavish armor and clothes. "Seems like he was the general..." His fingers flitted over the single gunshot in the man's temple. "Ivan helped us win in the end. Who knows how long the battle would have went on for if that airship had received its commands earlier than it had."

Ada bitterly frowned at Cedric and stormed over to him. "Why are you wasting your time on useless things!? We need to go find Minna! She must have met up with Ivan earlier and since he's dead...!"

"Ada-"

"No!" The assassin trembled as she was still reeling in shock over Ivan's death. "Minna...we...we need to go find her-! And Alice too! We lost everyone during that ambush in Ellinia-!"

Cedric abruptly got up to his feet and set his jaw as he slapped her across the face.

The female assassin stopped talking and widened her gray eyes as she brought her hand up to her reddened cheek.

"I'm sorry, Ada. I know she was your friend, but you need to pull yourself together." Cedric grabbed her by the shoulders and squeezed them tightly. "This is far from over and I can't have my martyr lose her mind. Okay?"

Ada chuckled wryly and whispered, "s-sorry. I wasn't thinking straight...thanks for that."

Cedric smiled, but flinched when he too received a slap across the face from her. Just before he could ask her why she did that, Ada smirked and replied, "you never hit me again, understood?"

The bandit released her shoulders and rubbed his sore cheek as he stared at her own reddened cheek. He laughed. "Fair enough."

* * *

><p>"Are you sure that you can stand?" Dante asked uneasily as he attempted to help Froid onto his feet.<p>

The ice mage gently waved his hand as he held onto the tree he was sitting against. "I'm fine, Mr. Kyudo. A few potions and I feel much better now." He held his back, wincing as he tried to stand up straight. "You should hurry and get Lia's martyr to safety. She seems to be growing ill. I feel very little mana left within her." Froid brought his hand down to Alice's forehead as she rested in Dante's arms.

Froid noticed Dante's frightened look and he sorrowfully replied, "I'm sorry. I used up the rest of my mana potions during my fight. I know of some herbs that are extremely strong, but sadly there are none in this area that can do the trick. Your best chance is getting her to a cleric immediately."

Dante focused his attention forward, into the darkness of the damp forests surrounding Sleepywood. "I don't think we're in any condition to make it through in time," he muttered, feeling that his body was also getting weaker by the minute.

"I plan to stay here - keep those two under my watch until some reinforcements arrive." Froid motioned towards the two red head archers tied to a tree a few feet away. He diverted his attention back towards Dante. With an unwavering gaze, he told the archer firmly, "go. You need to get her to a cleric right away. I'm sure some are on their way right now."

The red eyed archer tiredly nodded, feeling fatigue creep through his body, but he pressed on.

He stepped over various gnarled roots, dark mossy grounds and wet mud. The terrain in the Dungeons was unforgiving, especially to someone that was just about ready to pass out.

Dante struggled to lift his legs properly to avoid the roots of the tall trees jutting out from the ground, but he stumbled.

"_Urgh_...!" He held onto Alice tightly as he tripped over his own feet.

Feeling incredibly weak, Dante panted heavily as he leaned up against a lone tree. He slid down its length on his back and grunted as he sat down on the ground roughly.

"...Dan...te..."

He gasped as he looked down at Alice in his arms. "Alice-" His battered hands went up to touch her soft cheek as he whispered her name again. "Alice..."

"I...I don't feel too good," she admitted weakly, her face crinkling into pain.

Dante stammered as his nervous hands flitted over her face. "I...-" he let out a harsh sigh "-I don't know what to do," he admitted painfully. "I don't know what to do," he repeated, holding her closely.

Alice blinked as she stared up at him. She showed concern when she felt wet tears fall onto her face. "Dante..." Her blue eyes saw his expression of anguish and frustration as tears spilt out from his closed eyes.

This was the first time he felt so helpless, so useless...

"...Don't cry..."

Dante felt her move slightly so that she could rest her head against his chest.

"I...I shouldn't have been so reckless. Sorry," Alice whispered.

He heard her go silent and Dante gently wrapped his arms around her, hesitantly calling out her name.

"Alice...?"

The still silence ate away at his mind as he started reeling in shock. Dante grasped her injured arm, but not so much that he would cause her discomfort or injure it any further. "Alice," he called out, more firmly, but she didn't answer.

He looked down at her still face and he realized that she was gone.

"No...Alice." Dante propped her up in his lap and his hands trembled uncontrollably as he opened up his potion pouch on his leg and attempted to dig through it. He gasped as various stamina and energy pills fell out and scattered across the muddy ground next to him. His hands grabbed at a single narrow potion bottle.

When he pulled it out and inspected it, he realized that it was just another stamina potion.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed sharply under his breath as he threw the potion away in frustration. It shattered against the tree opposite to them and the orange liquid dripped down the mossy bark.

Dante had no more mana or health related potions in his pouch, nothing that could save Alice.

Unable to think straight, Dante sighed harshly and let his hand fall onto the spearman's chest.

At that exact instant, a dark aura surrounded his hand, the same one that he witnessed earlier after Alice's fight with Mary.

His red eyes widened in realization. That's it.

Dante's breath quickened as the dark aura around his hand grew, slowly engulfing his hand until it seemed as though it was burning in a fiery black flame. He felt no pain initially, but as the flames grew, his breath faltered and his heart rate sped up.

"_Agh-!" _He gasped, shutting his eyes tightly and cringing as a sharp pain emitted from his chest, still he kept his hand on her chest.

His chest heaved up and down heavily and his breathes came out in wheezy puffs of air. His red eyes opened up just slightly and he saw the color returning to Alice's face. Just a little bit more...

Alice's breathing resumed and her eyes reopened, just in time to see Dante stifle down a bloody cough.

"Dante...!?" she exclaimed, frightened when she saw blood leaking out from the corner of his mouth. "Stop!" She slipped her arms through his coat sleeves and quickly took his hand off of her.

The black haired male let out a loud gasp as he fell back against the tree. The dark aura around his hand disappeared and his breathing was quelled down.

"Are you okay?" he asked weakly, fighting to keep his breath.

Alice grasped at his hand and shook her head. "Stupid. Don't ever do something like that!"

"I thought...you were dead," Dante whispered. He chuckled as he raised his other hand to touch her shoulder. "Looks like your arm's all better now."

The spearman sniffled as she gently kissed his knuckles. She then raised her hand up to his face, cupping his cheek while using her thumb to wipe away at the blood on the corner of his mouth. "Just don't do that anymore."

"Why-?" Dante was quickly silenced with a kiss.

When Alice pulled away from him, he saw her expression of worry and concern. She shot him a soft, miserable glance, silently telling him that she didn't want to speak of it anymore.

And so Dante didn't question her about it.

"I won't do it anymore, promise." Dante muttered into her hair, wrapping his arms around her body.

Alice simply nodded as she leaned her head against his chest. "Good."

* * *

><p><em>'I have to hurry' <em>

Athena grabbed the reins tightly in her hands as the wolf she was riding on, rushed through the thick forests of the Dungeon. The air got cooler and more scented as she got closer to her destination. There was a certain heaviness in the air, something that Athena had not felt before.

"Is this Krylin...? No," she muttered under her breath. "It's...different somehow...this darkness."

* * *

><p>The trees swayed as another tremor rippled through the continent of Victoria.<p>

Dante held Alice tightly in his arms as he looked up at the high trees of the Dungeon. Some of the brush fell down around them and he could hear the various monsters residing nearby, crying out.

"What's happening?" Alice asked quietly, fearfully.

"It's been happening more often now..."

"Could it be Xeros?"

Dante shook his head. "No...I doubt he can unleash something like this after the fight he went through with us." He furrowed his brow slightly. "It could be the World Tree."

"The World Tree?"

"Meg was the Tree's seed...it's life source. It didn't get it and now this may be its reaction to all of this," Dante whispered softly, looking up at the trees.

Alice solemnly bowed her head, resting it against his chest as she whispered, "it's all over...isn't it?"

The bowman said nothing. Instead he simply placed his hand on top of her head.

* * *

><p>Athena pulled on the reins as soon as she arrived at a clearing. The wolf jumped up into the air and entered the clearing with a dramatic leap.<p>

"M-Miss Athena..." She heard a weak whisper off to the side.

The elf located the source of the voice and her icy blue eyes widened when she spotted Froid lying next to a tree.

"Froid," she addressed promptly.

He wasted no time in speaking to her and relaying his message. "Miss Athena...there are...people still inside the castle. Sean...and Meg...they're insid-!" He coughed loudly, spewing blood from his mouth.

"Froid-!"

"Please Miss Athena! Do not worry about me! Go find them!"

The elf drew back at his forceful protest, but she complied with his demands. She closed her eyes and slapped down the reins. "Help will come soon, Froid."

With that, the wolf dashed into the darkness of the castle.

Once inside, Athena saw the entrance hall, littered with throwing stars and steelies...along with blood. She knew that she had to get to the World Tree without wasting anymore time, but the sight in front of her shocked her immensely.

Her breath faltered when she spotted both Meg and Sean lying against a large statue, both dead, but seated together side by side as if someone had placed them there like that. She let the wolf walk further on into the hall and she saw the bodies of two others, both of whom she had no prior contact with.

"Come on...we need to get to the World Tree."

The wolf picked up its pace and ran deeper into the dark castle. All around, Athena saw the bodies of Krylin's soldiers, all dead and all with dozens of throwing stars and knives sticking out from underneath their armor.

"Such a strong assassin must have come through here...I wonder..."

* * *

><p>Xin stared at the dead leaves of the World Tree, falling piece by piece around the chamber. He was mesmerized by the sight, unable to look away as each pure green leaf quickly turned into a lifeless gray.<p>

The fruits it bear, each lost its soft glow, one by one.

"Why is this happening...?" Xin asked the Tree. He stepped forward, "is it because you didn't receive the seed?"

The Tree didn't respond to him.

Before he could approach the Tree any further, he stopped himself when he heard the sound of an approaching figure.

A large wolf leaped into the now destroyed chamber. Riding on it was Athena, holding the reins back tightly to stop it.

"Miss Athena-!" Xin exclaimed, only to have the elven archer quickly cut into his speech.

"Xin, get out of here!" Athena dismounted the large gray wolf and handed the crusader the reins.

"But-"

"You're wasting time! Get out of the castle quickly! It's not going to hold for much longer!"

Another strong tremor shook the chamber, alerting Athena towards the dying World Tree. "I need to take care of things here...but-" Before Xin could leave, Athena walked up to him and handed him a golden flame emblem, the symbol of the Aegis. "-take this and make sure you get it to Grendel."

Xin stared at her, shocked at what she was trying to do, but he obeyed. He mounted the wolf to the best that his remaining strength allowed him and he wordlessly left the chamber without any last words.

With the crusader now gone, Athena stood inside of the crumbling chamber by herself. All around her, the large pieces of rubble and stone fell down, splashing into the clear spring waters near the Tree's roots.

"I've been a coward for too long..." she muttered, looking up at the ashy gray leaves scattering all around her. "Leading everyone on a wild goose chase for your seed...when this whole time-"

Athena grabbed at her silky white robes and slid them down her shoulders. Her pale skin seemed to glow even within the darkness of the chamber.

"In truth...I was scared this whole time, but I should have done this a long time ago." The archer placed her hand on top of her chest and whispered, "I'm your true seed. Please...use my energy to live."

Her chest began to emit a soft light and Athena tearfully bowed her head as the light slowly spread throughout her body, but she smiled happily.

"I escaped my own people because we have the duty to care for you. This wasn't the fate that I wanted for myself, but it's strange how things worked out..."

Athena closed her eyes as she felt the World Tree wrap its vines and fibers around her body, encasing her.

"The Aegis was never meant to fight Krylin or the Black Mage...its true purpose is to protect the cowardly me."

* * *

><p>Ada blinked when the tremors suddenly stopped.<p>

"What...?"

"Could it be over now?" Cedric asked to no one in particular as he looked around. "The World Tree must have been given more energy to live on. Its seed must have been provided. But still...something just feels uneasy."

At that moment, there was a loud, ear-splitting boom. Both thieves cringed at the sound and ducked down.

"Don't tell me Victoria Island's going to end like this!" Ada shouted over the loud rumbling.

The green haired bandit grit his teeth as the tremors grew extremely violent. He sensed a large pulse of mana from deep within the Dungeons. It was almost overwhelming, feeling like there was a lead weight placed on his shoulders.

"Look!" Ada suddenly cried out, pointing up into the sky.

Cedric looked up and saw a large, bright yellow Tree shoot up from the middle of the Dungeon. "Is that...?" he breathed out in wonder.

"That has to be the World Tree!"

Once the golden Tree sprouted up and spread its branches and leaves over a majority of the Dungeon's airspace, the tremors gradually stopped and weakened. It immersed the area of Sleepywood in a soft yellow glow, warming up the once cold and mossy area.

* * *

><p>Both Dante and Alice looked up at the now illuminated skies in wonder.<p>

"It's so pretty..." Alice whispered in amazement. "Is that the World Tree?"

"Probably," Dante answered, also caught up in the beautiful sight of the large Tree's golden leaves. "The World Tree must have gotten its seed."

* * *

><p>Alec knelt down beside a small stream, holding Lia in his arms.<p>

"Cecilia...look," he whispered, staring up at the World Tree. "Things might start to quiet down now." He gently squeezed his wife's arm and smiled down at her lifeless figure. He stroked her delicate face carefully.

"Our son," Alec chuckled softly, "Dante grew up so well even without us."

It looked as though she was sleeping.

He leaned down and placed a light kiss on her lips. "We've both done our parts," he muttered as he pulled away, "now it's time for Dante and Alice to finish it."

Alec stood up on his feet, still carrying Lia in his arms. The ends of his long gray, tattered cape swayed softly as he started his walk out of the Dungeon. He held his lips together as he softly hummed a lullaby that he remembered he and Lia sang almost every night to Dante in order to get him to sleep.

His humming song slowly grew quieter as he disappeared into the thick forests of Sleepywood.

* * *

><p>"And you're set."<p>

Froid thanked the cleric that healed him up and helped him wrap bandages over the stubborn wounds that didn't heal over completely with magic. He was riding in the back of a small wagon for the Aegis, sent out to the Dungeon in search of separated soldiers.

The wagon rocked and rolled, but the few soldiers in the wagon didn't complain.

Froid caught a glimpse of the illuminated skies and he let out a soft content sigh.

When he turned his attention back to the inside of the wagon, he looked over to Alice and Dante, both sound asleep with him holding her in his arms. He smiled a little and pushed up his broken glasses, even though he couldn't see out of them anymore.

"Should I treat them as well?" one of the clerics asked, motioning towards Dante and Alice.

"No...leave them be. I'm sure they're tired...we all are."

Froid sighed and looked out at the outskirts of Henesys. The small town was partially destroyed during Krylin's reign, but it wasn't beyond repair. "We have tomorrow anyways to recover and to rebuild."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Thought I should stop it there. It was just wrapping up the battle and this arc, so sorry it's a bit short. I thought it would be longer, but that's because I thought I would be explaining a lot of things that happened in this chapter. _

_But I figured that the explanations would be better left for future chapters. I don't like throwing a whole bunch of information at you guys all at once or at least I don't like doing that as of now. _

_Just to clarify, yes, Athena was the REAL seed. The situation with Meg will be explained in the next chapter (or the chapter after that). _

_Also I'm just curious, but how do you guys pronounce Xin's name in your heads as you're reading this? Because if you're saying his name as "Zin" then you're saying it wrong LOL Because his name is pronounced as "Shin." _

_So yeah, I plan to reveal Dr. Everard's intentions with her whole bioweapon experiments and explain more about Athena/Meg being the seed situation as well in the future chapters~ Don't worry, it'll all come together :) _

_Please leave a review! If I get enough, then I'll update next week. If not, then I'll update two weeks from now! Take care guys!_


	32. Home

**Character List:**

**Meg Aomori – **_13 years old – Cleric_

**Sean Everard –**_ 14 years old – Fighter_

**Ciel Clawrence - **_15 years old - Ranger_

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Lia Kaji **_- 47 years old - Archmage (Fire/Poison)_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Minna Sukoyaka **_- 18 years old - Bishop_

**Ivan Alfort**_** - **__21 years old - Corsair_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Eternus **_- ? years old_

**Krylin **_- 28 years old - Dark Cleric_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Mary Kelley **_- 24 years old - Paladin_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 32 - Home  
><strong>

"Athena gave you this?" Grendel questioned the young man in front of him.

Xin nodded as he sat up in his hospital bed. He lowered his now one, useable eye and muttered, "she seemed sure in her decision. I tried to talk her out of it, but-"

"It's fine." Grendel slipped the golden flame emblem into his white robes and let out a melancholic sigh. "It's for the best."

"May I ask why?"

"Hm?"

"Why...Athena decided to sacrifice herself so suddenly."

The seasoned mage held his thin lips together solemnly. "Athena," he began slowly, "was given this duty due to her heritage and her elven blood. The elves are the most in tune in the natural world around us and they were given the task of taking care of the World Tree, making sure that no harm came to it and if need be, give the Tree life if it came time to die."

Grendel cleared his throat and set his wooden staff down beside Xin's nightstand as he pulled up a small stool. "Ever since Queen Mercedes disappeared along with the rest of the Five Heroes, the world wasn't the same place. Everything felt restless..._unsafe_." The old man took a seat on the stool and continued his explanation.

"That is when the World Tree started to lose its power. The restlessness of the people in this world drained it of its energy as it continued to restore peace. It wasn't so much Xeros' or Krylin's fault for depleting the World Tree of its power, but it was us. We failed to get back up on our feet after our Five Heroes disappeared. Even the elven community tried their best to care take of the World Tree, but as the years went by...many of them stopped caring. They saw no point in protecting something that was nonexistent."

Xin looked down at his bandaged hands and asked, "then Miss Athena...? Did she leave too?"

"She did, but for her own reasons. She wanted to defy her fate, escape from it, protect herself from it, but in the end...I suppose it didn't work out. Even so, it was her duty to eventually give herself up to the World Tree. I won't judge her for one second for her decision. It was an admirable one; a sacrifice worth living for."

Grendel smiled sadly, his wrinkles deepening and his blue-gray eyes sparkling just slightly out of hope.

"We mustn't let her sacrifice go to waste," he remarked, standing up slowly. "Henesys will be rebuilt soon and the Aegis will reform again. Faith will be restored in the World Tree, in Athena."

Xin watched as Grendel excused himself and leave the small infirmary room. Soon after, an apprentice cleric came in and quickly introduced himself before cleaning and wiping down the dirty walls and floors.

The crusader paid no mind to him.

Instead he looked out the window in the room and saw the golden World Tree off in the distance, still looming over the Dungeons.

* * *

><p>It was a grim sight.<p>

Hundreds of dead bodies of various Aegis soldiers were laid out near Henesys' South Gate. Some of the more bloodied and gruesome ones were covered with sheets in order to respect them.

Froid stared down at one body in particular, Sean's.

"You fought bravely until the end, Sean." He half-smiled as he knelt down and brushed the young boy's blue bangs back away from his face, only to have them fall back over his eyes again. "Meg would have been proud of you."

The platoon leader looked over at Meg, who was laid out beside him.

"Both of you would have been proud of each other."

He reached around to the small potion pouch strapped to his waist and pulled out two small golden pins, each with the Aegis flame symbol on it. Gently, he fixed one to each of their clothes.

"When this was all over...I had planned to make you two both my martyrs. Well..." he chuckled softly, "I guess you both are now." Froid took each of their hands and interlocked them with each other's.

"Protect each other," he whispered, holding Meg and Sean's hands together.

Froid held them for a while before gently setting their intertwined hands on the ground. He got up on his feet and walked away from the two.

As soon as he did, a few Aegis soldiers who were helping with the burying of the dead and bodies, picked up Sean and Meg's gurneys and carried them off in separate directions, their once intertwined hands releasing themselves from each other.

Froid left the area and walked past Ada and Cedric, who were both looking down at their fallen loved ones.

"It all feels like a dream," Ada whispered weakly, staring at both Minna and Ivan, lying on their own cots. "Who would have known it would have all ended like this?"

Cedric grabbed Ada's hand and gently squeezed it, providing support. "Minna probably wouldn't have liked you morning her death. She hates seeing people sad, remember?"

"Hm," the black haired woman wiped away her tears quickly as she laughed softly, "that's true. Think they're finally together?" she asked, looking at Ivan and Minna's bodies.

Offering up no response, Cedric simply squeezed her hand again and whispered, "let's go help out. There's a lot to get done."

* * *

><p>"You should be fine after a few days of bed rest."<p>

The priest standing beside his bed noticed Dante's obvious restlessness. He raised an eyebrow and tapped the small clipboard he had. "You have a lot of torn muscles, luckily no broken bones, but there are some that are fractured. You can leave if you want to, but that won't help the healing process any more."

Dante mumbled a disgruntled, 'I got it,' to the head healer, not really making eye contact with the man. He really didn't want to be confined to a bed, but he really didn't have much of a choice since it looked like the priest would kill him if he even tried to move the bed sheets.

"Good," the priest said curtly, pushing up his thin rimmed glasses further up onto his nose bridge. "A few nurses will be around cleaning up the building. If you need one of them, just pull them aside."

"Okay."

However before the priest could leave, Dante stopped him.

"Alice, she's-?"

"She's fine. She's fallen unconscious again, but Grendel is taking good care of her. You have nothing to worry about." The healer seemed to speak mechanically, but Dante didn't mind. It was better than someone that would beat around the bush.

The priest walked off to tend to the dozens of other patients that were brought in, most of them being wounded Aegis soldiers.

The door to Dante's room was gone, ripped off its hinges. It was just one of the few damages that were done to the infirmary.

"Is this room clean?" he could hear the frenzied sounds of priests and clerics rushing about, attempting to clean up most of the useable rooms back to some degree of cleanliness and decency before bringing in a wounded soldier.

"Are there any rooms that are ready!? We have a seriously wounded man here!"

Dante saw the cleric standing just outside his doorway, attempting to support the weight of a soldier that had one of his arms completely cut off and hastily wrapped up in dirty bandages. He was dripping blood and moaning from the pain.

Without thinking too much of it, Dante got out of his bed, slipped on his boots, and went up to the cleric.

"This one's clean," he stated.

"Great! Thanks!" the healer said hastily, "come on guys! Help me bring him in here! He needs a priest pronto!"

Dante stepped out of the way and watched as the nurses and clerics helped the injured man onto what once was his bed. It didn't matter, he had no need to be confined to a bed anyways.

He sighed softly and did his best to make his way down the crowded halls.

It was chaotic. Nurses rushing around attempting to clean up the dirty rooms and clerics constantly bringing in injured soldiers.

Several rushing clerics bumped into him, pushing him against the wall. They were in such a hurry and it was so crowded that they didn't utter a word of apology to the archer.

Dante winced as he pushed himself off the wall with the best of his strength and suddenly felt the dull ache of his torn muscles all over his body.

"Damn," he whispered under his breath as he walked out from the crowded hallway. Everyone seemed too caught up in their own business that no one really paid much attention to each other.

"Excuse me," Dante said, stopping a cleric that was rushing a group of nurses to their next work station.

"Sorry, I'm a bit busy- Get him some potions! Hurry!"

There wasn't much that Dante could say as the cleric hurried past him.

"You can't really get the attention of the clerics right now," he heard a familiar voice say.

Dante turned around and spotted Xin coming up to him slowly, supporting himself with make-shift crutches. The crusader greeted him with a kind smile and quietly made a motion with his arms to follow him.

He followed him through the infirmary and was led to a small courtyard.

"Ah, feels a little bit better to get some air!" Xin exclaimed, inhaling deeply through his nose.

Dante stared at the crusader's wounds, especially his now bandaged eye. He couldn't help, but feel sorry and a bit guilty. "Uhm," he muttered, "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Xin realized that Dante was referring to his wounds. At this, he simply laughed and seated himself down on one of the stone benches in the courtyard. "This is nothing." His deep blue eyes rested on the archer as he asked quizzically, "don't tell me you feel guilty for leaving?"

When Dante didn't answer, Xin sighed softly and ruffled up his black hair. "Well...you don't have to feel guilty or pity me. I told you to leave and you did. You had to save Alice...and yourself." He sighed a little as he picked up both crutches, with a little bit of effort, and set them aside on the ground beside him. "I would have been more pissed if you _didn't_ leave."

"Still."

"What happened, happened. At least I'm fine. I don't know how, but I'm fine. We all are." Xin flashed the archer a little smile.

Dante responded with his own smile. After a period of silence between the two men, he spoke up once more.

"Is it true...? What you said, you know, back in Krylin's castle."

"About me being your little brother?" Xin laughed boyishly and grinned toothily. "Yep."

"Well that...and you being Alice's brother too." Without waiting for Xin's response or answer, Dante went ahead and continued speaking. "Alice..." he started, "she's all alone now."

"She has you and her friends."

"We're different. I'm talking about her family...they're all gone. Her dad...her mom, and now Sean..."

Xin raised an eyebrow slightly as he turned to face Dante. "What are you trying to say?"

"I think it'll be comforting to her...to know that at least someone that shares the same blood as her is still alive." Dante looked down at Xin, silently pleading with him. "I guess what I'm saying is that maybe Alice needs someone after all this. Someone who's family-"

"You're pathetic."

Dante blinked at what Xin said to him. Finally he asked in disbelief, "excuse me?"

The crusader looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "If she needs anyone at this point, it's you. Not me. It's not a matter about me being her family. I'm sure she'd much rather have you by her side than me."

"I-"

"Stop trying to push her away," said Xin sharply. He picked up his crutches and stood up from the bench, careful not to step on his injured leg. When he finally stood up straight, he glared at Dante, meeting him eye to eye. "You're not the same person that you were when you met her. Go comfort her. Let her cry on your shoulder if she wants to. She wants _you_ to make it all better."

Dante didn't say anything to him as Xin slowly began to walk away, however before he did, he stopped right in front of Dante and leaned up.

"It's things like this...that sometimes made me think that Alice deserves better."

He widened his red eyes at Xin's words as the warrior limped away.

The air in the courtyard seemed to get cooler as the seconds turned into minutes. The sun dimmed in the sky as it started to set, giving way to the darkness of night.

Dante couldn't feel the aching pain in his body even though he had been standing in the same spot for hours.

_"All this time...I believed that Alice was the one holding me back." _

Dante finally moved from the spot and picked up his feet. He slowly walked through the hallways, still crowded, but less than it was a few hours ago. His dull red eyes stared blankly at the tiled floors in the infirmary.

"Is everything alright?"

"...Huh?" Dante muttered, facing a cleric that had stopped him in concern. Too caught up in his own hazy thoughts, Dante took a while to respond properly. "I...-" He hesitated. "I was wondering...where Alice Everard is."

_"But in reality...I guess I was the one holding her back." _

"She's in this room, but Grendel has said that she needs rest."

"I won't bother her."

Dante twisted the doorknob and slowly opened up the wooden door. It creaked on its rusty hinges as he stepped into the small room. His red eyes rested on her sleeping form and remained fixated on her as he closed the door behind him and walked up to the side of her bed.

"Alice," he whispered in a pained tone. His brow furrowed and his fists were clenched tightly. Each bandage, each wound he saw on her...he was reminded of his hesitance and Xin's words.

He sat down on the wooden stool next to her bed and gazed at her delicate face. Dante reached out and gently scooped up her soft hand in his and squeezed it.

"I'm sorry," whispered Dante, bringing her hand up to his lips. He closed his eyes and gently kissed her fingers. "It's all my fault..."

* * *

><p>Stirring softly, Alice sunk deeper into the soft warmth of her bed sheets before finally opening up her blue eyes.<p>

It took her eyes some time to adjust to the bright light filtering into her room through a small window. However, once they did adjust, Alice blinked a few times before moving her head to the side.

It was then that she saw a mass of black hair resting at her bedside.

Alice slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. She felt a small smile tug at her lips when she saw that it was Dante, sleeping soundly with his head against her bed.

"Stupid..." she muttered, smiling as she rubbed the top of his head. She played with his dark locks of hair, finding it to be extremely soft, despite their cold, inky color. Alice drew back her hand when he sighed and moved his head a little before resuming his sleep.

She curiously touched his bare shoulder and found his skin to be quite cold to the touch.

"You were here this whole time...?" she asked quietly, feeling her heart speed up slightly when she saw his sleeping expression.

Alice gently wrapped her nimble fingers around his calloused hand. He didn't move and continued to sleep instead.

She knew that he must be tired from their ordeal back in Krylin's castle. Even her own body was still aching in dull pain. But the only thing she could think of right now was how Dante hurt himself in order to save her.

_"I'll never let him heal me again." _Alice promised herself silently as she stared down at the archer. _"I can't let him-" _And for some strange reason...deep within her head, something was denying that very thought. He _should_ be helping her. He _should_ be risking his life for her. _  
><em>

Alice sadly lowered her eyes and sighed softly, unable to figure out what to do about the current situation at hand. Thoughts were racing through her head, each one begging to be sorted in order of which to be solved.

"...What's with that sigh?"

The blue haired girl widened her eyes and looked back down at Dante, who was now awake and slowly sitting up. She avoided his eyes as he yawned.

"I-It's nothing...I'm just glad everything's okay for now." She smiled, to which Dante responded with a skeptical raised eyebrow. Alice noticed this and quickly avoided his eyes again.

Dante kept his red eyes on her, in concern and with the way she avoided his gaze, he knew she was lying. "Alice..." he started.

"It's such a nice day, isn't it?" asked Alice, to no one in particular, looking out the window beside her bed.

Dante didn't even steal a glance at the window, instead he kept his eyes on Alice for he had more pressing matters at hand that he wanted to discuss with her. "Alice...remember...how you said we need to trust each other?"

She remained silent.

"Alice-"

"I know." Alice clenched a fistful of the bed sheets in her hand as she struggled to speak. "I-I know," she stammered, repeating herself. "Please Dante, I-"

"It's hard for me to help you advance when you're making me hold you back." Dante gently pulled her hand over to him more. "Tell me. I don't want to hold you back anymore."

The warrior lowered her blue eyes. "Do you...like me?"

"I do-"

"Why?"

Dante stared at her in surprise, taken aback by her quick question. When he didn't answer her, he saw her head away slightly.

"Back when we were fighting inside the World Tree's chamber, Eternus told me that we only sought each other out because of our Beserker and Beholder spirits. They want to use each other so, no matter what-"

"And you think that it's because of that, that we found each other." Dante finished for her.

Alice took her hand away from his and whispered, "even Athena played a role in bringing us together. She purposely made me your martyr and she had it planned all from the start. I just...can't help, but think that...maybe we don't like each other like we think we do."

"Idiot."

"Eh?"

Dante got up from the stool and sat down right next to her on the bed. Curiously, Alice stared at him until he spoke.

"It's because you're an idiot."

"H-Hey-!"

"It's also because you're the first person...the first girl, that even bothered to try and get to know me."

Alice blushed when her eyes met with his. "Eh? What are you talking about?"

"There were a few girls before I met you, that told me they liked me-"

"Don't brag," Alice grumbled, feeling slightly jealous.

Dante chuckled softly at her jealousy and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "-but that was it. They liked me, but I could never understand why. They didn't know who I was personally and I could never open myself up to them or anyone else. I guess...things were a little bit different when I met you."

The female warrior remained silent as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I hated you. I thought you were the most annoying, stubborn, and naive woman I've ever met. Always too quick to trust people," Dante chuckled at the fond memory of their first encounter, "yelling at me whenever I insulted you...that was definitely the first time someone tried to butt heads with me after I became a platoon leader."

"You know you're stubborn yourself too," Alice grumbled. "And an arrogant asshole."

"I know, I know," Dante said lightheartedly, smiling slightly. "You told me that all the time, but maybe...liking each other's negative traits are what brings us here. Despite what I did or said to you, we kept coming back to each other. And _maybe_ that's what the Beholder and Beserker spirits have done, but I don't think so."

Alice widened her eyes slightly when Dante pulled away and turned towards her.

"Like I said to Xeros, I'm not your Beserker spirit or amplifier. I'm Dante."

She felt her heart hammer away inside of her chest when he kissed her softly. Alice slowly closed her eyes just as he pulled away. Her eyes remained closed as he leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Even if our paths didn't cross due to these circumstances, I'd like to think maybe we would still end up like this...eventually."

Alice reopened her eyes and immediately brought Dante in for a tight embrace. She buried her face into his shoulder and pulled him down onto the bed, so that both of them were lying down. She continued to hold onto him, relishing the warmth his body provided to her exposed bare arms.

"I'd like to think so too," she finally whispered, smiling.

Dante wrapped his arms around her as well and let out an inaudible sigh, relaxing in her arms, feeling as if this was the first time that he could get some decent rest after a series of eventful, long days.

* * *

><p>The assassin stared heatedly at the old, dust covered chair in the partially destroyed council hall.<p>

It was the chair where Athena had once sat in.

"Hm, we will need to get started on repairs later tonight," Grendel thoughtfully remarked, looking up at the open ceiling, showing the clear blue sky. He stepped forward, the dust covered wooden floors getting the ends of his white robes dirty. As he did so, he noticed Dark standing off to the side, staring at Athena's old, broken chair.

The magician sighed heavily before parting his dry lips to speak. "What's done is done, Dark. Athena wouldn't want us to stop because she's gone."

"What's the point anymore?" whispered Dark hastily under his breath. He knelt down and clenched his teeth in anguish. "Athena created the Aegis so that she could protect herself from her fate. It didn't do much - so...what's the point?"

"Listen to yourself speak, Dark-!"

"Heh, immature as always."

The two of them turned around at the spunky female voice and saw Kyrin walking into the room along with Dances with Balrog.

Kyrin smirked when she laid eyes on Dark. "Is this any way for a council member to behave?"

"Shut the hell up-"

"If Athena were here, she'd definitely be telling you to get your shit together, Dark," Kyrin fired back. She placed her gloved hand on her curvy hips and lightly tapped her high heeled boots on the wooden floors. "This is no time to be mourning the dead. They died, but it's time to move on." Kyrin paused before continuing again. "Rebuilding the Aegis, strengthening it, isn't that what Athena would want?"

Dark couldn't say anything in retaliation to that. She was right.

Silently, he stood up and nodded. "It's what she would want," he repeated with his own lips. Dark stared out the broken stained glass window of the council hall and saw the World Tree standing high above the Dungeons brightly. "It's what she would want."

He grabbed at the collar of his black suit and pulled the cloth over his nose and mouth.

Kyrin smirked when she saw him turn back around to face the three of them. "Good. Now that my work here is done-!" She sharply turned around on the heel of her boot and walked out of the room, "I leave everything up to you!"

"What...? Hey! Kyrin!" Dark shouted out after her.

"You seriously didn't expect me to stay, did you?" The pirate flashed her trademark smirk one last time before giving a final farewell. "I'm a pirate. We don't stay long in one place."

Dark watched her leave and he turned to Grendel and Dances with Balrog, wondering if the two elderly council members had anything to say about this matter.

"Let her go," Dances with Balrogs remarked. The seasoned warrior crossed his muscular arms over his bare chest and solemnly lowered his head. "Her heart belongs to the sea, but her loyalty is with the Aegis. That is enough for me."

"As with me," added in Grendel. "Now-" he tapped his old wooden staff on the ground softly as the corners of his mouth spread across his face, defining the fine wrinkles he had, "-let's show Athena that we are more than capable of moving past her absence. Let us rebuild and fortify the Aegis! _Her_ Aegis!"

* * *

><p>Alice kept her head down and didn't say a word. Neither did Dante.<p>

The two walked together, side-by-side, towards the large grave site where most of the causalities from the previous battle were being buried.

_"Sean's..." _

_"I know." Alice smiled sadly as she sat on the edge of her hospital bed. Her blue eyes shimmered with tears, but she held them back. _

Dante glanced down at her as they approached the graves and saw her with no reaction still. However, he knew that she was shaken up inside; devastated.

_"What about Minna?" _

_Alice felt her heart sink when she saw Dante turn his head away slightly.  
><em>

_"...She didn't make it. Along with Ivan...they both-" _

They arrived at the first two graves that they recognized. Alice took in a sharp inhale of breath when she saw the names hastily written on simple wooden slabs above the fresh graves.

Ivan and Minna's names...

Dante saw Alice fall to her knees swiftly and clasp her hands in front of her and press her knuckles against her lips. She closed her eyes and forced down the feeling to cry.

The black haired man closed his eyes as well, paying respects to the two. He reopened them soon after when he heard Alice get back up on her feet and walk further into the large graveyard.

He could see the pain inside of her, but he didn't say anything and simply followed her quietly.

Alice arrived at Meg and Sean's graves not too long after and she felt that first tear slip out from her eyes. She heard Dante come up next to her, but she quickly wiped her tears away before he could notice.

"Se...an..." Her voice cracked as she softly uttered her little brother's name.

Dante watched as she held her hands over her mouth as if she was stifling her cries. His fingers twitched when he remembered what Xin had told him a few days ago at their first day in the infirmary. He was the only one left for her.

"Alice-" he whispered gently, touching her shoulder.

"If only I was stronger..." Alice let out a soft cry as she fought to form coherent words. "Everyone would be alive. No one had to die."

"You know that's not true," Dante told her. "You can't be blaming yourself for everything. Everyone died for a reason. It's just how it worked out."

"Everyone died." Alice repeated, her tears coming down faster. "Everyone...my whole family," she cried and her body shook as she coughed violently. She fell to her knees and hands.

"Alice!" Dante exclaimed, kneeling down next to her worriedly.

"Sean..." she squeaked out in between her tears. "Minna, Ivan, Lia, and Sean...and even Dante...why?" Alice squeezed her eyes shut and let all of her emotions out at once, screaming in anguish as she clenched at the cold dirt ground.

Dante squeezed her shoulder, attempting to comfort her without any words, but it backfired on him.

Instead, Alice hit his arm away and ran. She held her hand over her mouth as she muffled her heavy cries. The shock of the deaths of her close friends and family were all flooding into her mind at once. She couldn't handle it.

"Alice!" she could hear Dante shout after her.

But she continued to run.

She didn't know why exactly, but she didn't feel like talking to anyone. Not even Dante. All she wanted to do was cry by herself.

"Alice!" Dante grabbed her by the arm, only to have her retaliate sharply.

"Let go!"

The archer wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "no."

"You-You're so annoying! Just leave me alone!" Alice screamed, trying to kick him.

Dante buried his nose into her cyan hair and muttered softly, "you sound exactly like I did back when we met." He closed his eyes when he felt Alice grow still in his arms. "Alice...I understand."

Alice brought both hands up to his arms and held them, not really trying to release herself from him and not really giving up either.

"You've been incredibly hurt. It's not fair, is it?" Dante rubbed the top of her head gently, soothing her. "Pushing me away won't do you any good...I know it didn't do me any good when I've pushed you away."

The warrior cried softly.

"I told you before, you can cry if you want to...I won't look at you." Dante smiled softly as he covered her blue eyes with his hand. He could feel the palm of his hand getting wet with her tears. "I won't leave you alone. I promise."

Alice tightened her hands around his arms as her lower lip trembled from her tears.

"How...?" she squeaked out, tears slipping out from underneath Dante's hand over her eyes. "How did you deal with being alone?"

Dante smiled sadly as he closed his eyes, leaning his head against hers. "By staying alone...but look where that got me until now. I was a bitter, arrogant, and cold person that turned that way because I didn't want to get hurt by losing people anymore."

Alice let out a soft cry.

"It felt better when someone made the effort to get to know me, no matter how much I didn't want them to."

He gently turned Alice around to face him and held her head against his shoulder, listening to her crying. "You continued to stay by my side even when I've pushed you away countless times. The least I can do is return the favor."

Alice sniffled and raised her head just slightly to look up at him. She pursed her lips to hold back more tears. "Stupid..." her voice cracked.

She felt Dante wipe away a tear.

"Grendel said you still needed more rest. I'll take you home, okay?"

Alice nodded her head slightly. "Okay..."

They walked hand-in-hand away from the graveyard and towards the main part of Henesys. All around they could hear the sounds of repair and construction even when the sun was already starting to set.

Alice looked at all the men and women rushing around, delivering supplies and equipment to rebuild some key buildings fast. One building in particular that she noticed were the Aegis barracks. It was completely destroyed and the Aegis was working around the clock to rebuild it.

"I need to help with that tomorrow," Dante commented, seeing her stare at the now wooden skeleton of the building. "Now that I'm done healing."

Alice noticed a large number of tents that were pitched in the nearby field. She assumed that it was there, that all the Aegis soldiers were sleeping at until their barracks were finished.

"It's a good thing your house wasn't damaged while we were gone."

Dante squeezed her hand and smiled down at her, hoping to get her to cheer up, just a bit.

"Mm," Alice simply replied, not really showing much emotion at the news. Truthfully, she was nervous about reentering her old house.

"All your stuff has been moved already, right?" asked Dante as they arrived in front of her mushroom house.

She watched as he let go of her hand and walk up the small steps and twist open the doorknob. A shudder passed through her body as soon as the cold air from the house rushed out to meet her.

She was terrified to stay there. Alone.

There was no more Sean and her pet husky. No more Minna. No more Ivan. Just their memories, but-

Dante seemed to notice this and he stood at the doorway of her house. "Alice..." He held out his hand towards her.

Knowing that she had to face it, Alice lowered her blue eyes and gently took his outstretched hand. She was led into the cold, dreary room where all of her cozy furniture once were. It used to feel like home, but now...

"Well...it looks like your stuff all got here okay." Dante commented, looking at the pile of furniture laid out against the wall of the living room. "I can help you tomorrow with getting them all in place before I go out to help with the barracks. Okay?"

Alice felt a sinking feeling deep in her throat when she heard him leave.

Was he really going to leave her already?

Wordlessly, Alice turned around and grabbed his arm. She tugged it gently and whispered, "please don't leave me."

"Alice-"

"The barracks...they aren't even finished and you'll have to sleep in those tents. It almost winter too." Alice tightened her grip, hoping that Dante would understand what she was getting at.

The raven haired archer stared down at her and lowered his red eyes solemnly. He saw her pained expression, hiding behind a worried, frightened expression. She was scared and still in an unstable condition due to the deaths of Sean and Minna.

"Are you sure?" he asked of her. Dante stepped towards her and gently stroked her redden cheeks.

Alice suddenly glared and snapped back in annoyance, "didn't you say that you would never leave me alone?" She sniffled and wiped away the last of her tears. "You promised," she said.

She was lonely, Dante concluded as he moved in close to her. He gently ran his fingers through her long cyan hair and whispered, "I did...didn't I?"

Alice shivered as he kissed her. She leaned in closer to him, relishing the contact with him. His warm body seemed to keep her warm as well, amidst the cold chilliness of the room. It felt so cold...

"What do you want, Alice?" Dante asked of her as he pulled away. He left little soft pecks here and there all over her face as he waited for her answer.

"I..." she whispered, drowning in his gentle caresses, "I want you to stay. Keep me warm." Alice cuddled up close to him. "It's so cold in here."

Dante held her by her bare arms and indeed found her pale skin to be icy cold against his touch. He personally did not find the house to be so cold, but he didn't say anything to Alice as he silently took her into his arms.

"I'll stay then."

He found it hard to leave her. To the point where even if he wanted to, he couldn't.

The young man held her hand as they both were on a fluffy white bed sheet they found buried in Alice's furniture. It was laid down upon the hardwood floors of the house in a haste, just so they could get some type of comfort.

Their lips were locked with each others' as Dante laid there beside Alice, propping himself up with his elbow so that he could get more leverage. His hand was still intertwined with hers off to the other side of her. She kept him there, squeezing at his calloused hand desperately.

As soon as Dante pulled away, they both remained in that position, panting heavily and blushing from the heightening passion.

"Crybaby," he whispered as he smiled down at her. He dragged his knuckles softly over the curve of her cheek, then ran his thumb over her swollen eyes.

Alice pouted a little, but didn't say anything back.

Dante chuckled softly as he brushed back her soft cyan hair from her face and kissed her again. His kissed trailed away from her lips and towards her neck. His heart rate quickened when he heard her let out a soft whimper.

"Is this okay?" he asked her cautiously, burying his face into the crook of her neck.

The blue haired girl blushed as she gave a slight nod. "I...I want it to be with you." Alice heard him let out a soft sigh against her skin.

She saw him let go of her hand and sit up beside her. Curiously she stared at him until she saw that he was taking off his white, skin-tight shirt. Alice felt her heart race inside of her chest was she saw him pull the article of clothing off over his head.

"Dante..."

He straddled her and set his gaze down on her. His dark red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the empty house, but for once, Alice didn't see them as frightening anymore. They looked warm and inviting as they locked themselves onto Alice's own blue eyes.

"Is it still cold?" Dante asked, leaning down close to her face.

Alice nodded, reaching up to touch his face. She lovingly cleared away his black bangs and reached around to tangle her fingers in his soft hair. Timidly, she brought him down on top of her and kissed him deeply. Slowly her arms wrapped themselves around his neck and she ran her hands over his well muscled backside.

He was so warm...

Dante slipped his tongue past her parted lips and deepened the kiss. He grew bolder when he felt her hands gently massage at his back, coaxing him closer to her.

Alice let him play with her tongue, whimpering as his body moved against hers.

"Sorry," he muttered as he pulled away from her. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"

The warrior shook her head. "It's warmer this way," she said, pulling him in close and nuzzling his broad shoulder. He smelled so nice to her, despite the fact that he had a constantly singed scent to his skin.

Dante panted heavily when he felt her move up and gently kiss and nibble at his ear. Shocks of pleasure electrified his body, eliciting a low grown from his throat.

Sensing that his ears were a sensitive area, Alice continued to touch them.

Dante, losing his strength and feeling his muscles go slack, rolled them over so that Alice was lying on top of him. His cheeks were tinted in a very light pink as she lightly tugged on his earlobe with the gentle clasp of her lips.

"Alice," he breathed out, his eyelids fluttering open and closed.

She sat up at the sound of her name and she saw that he was reduced to a pile of soft muscles and velvety, breathy sighs. Alice felt a slight ache inside of her when she saw him like that, lying beneath her. He looked incredibly enticing and his pale skin just begged to be touched again.

Alice straddled him across his stomach and pressed her hands against his chest, rubbing circles into his developed muscles, earning another light moan from him.

He let out another strangled groan, moving his head so that he was turned off to the side.

This allowed Alice access to his neck and she took this chance without hesitance. She first started off with soft butterfly kisses until she grew bolder and started suckling on his skin lightly.

"Nn-..." Dante breathed out as she suckled on the light, fading scar of where she had bit him when she was possessed by the Beholder spirit.

Alice pulled away just slightly to examine the scar. "It must have hurt a lot..." she whispered solemnly. "I should have controlled myself more. I felt myself losing control when I was fighting Mary."

The black haired man turned his head slightly to face her. He saw her bring her hand up to clear away her blue hair from one side of her face. A look of guilt crossed her face as her blue eyes shimmered with tears.

"I wanted to hurt her so badly when she said those things about you. I know they were lies, but I felt so angry. I let her words get to me and in the end, I let my emotions cloud my judgement...and let my Beholder spirit take over...and let it do this to you. It's pathetic how I let me emotions control me so much."

"I would have been the same had the roles have been reversed." Dante wiped away a tear before it rolled down her cheek. "It's not pathetic. _You're_ not pathetic. You couldn't have expected any other outcome other than this."

He tucked her soft blue hair behind her ear. "You've fought well. I never would have expected you to get this strong. If this was the girl that had approached me 3 years ago, I probably wouldn't have minded you being my martyr."

Alice looked at him with teary eyes, feeling a deep sense of joy for what she had heard.

"Tonight is the last night you're allowed to be sad," Dante stated. "After this, I want you to move on." He grabbed one of her hands and held it tightly. "You're not alone, Alice. You still have Ada and Xin...and you have me too."

Nodding her head, Alice responded, "I-I understand."

"Sean, Lia, and Minna wouldn't want you to be this sad over their deaths. They would want you to move forward...to get stronger."

Alice nodded again. She smiled through the last of her tears as she leaned her head against his chest. "That's true..."

Dante held her head against his chest and gently rolled her off of him so that she was lying beside him.

"Dante...?" she asked curiously. " We're not going to-?"

"We have a long road ahead of us." The male archer kissed her forehead and whispered, "I want us to be at the point where we can be strong. That's when we can continue this. Okay?"

Alice looked up at him and blushed at the warm smile he gave her. "I'd like that," she responded, nuzzling his neck.

The stillness in the house no longer unnerved her as she laid there with Dante. It sounded more like that same peaceful silence that had been there a few years ago. The air no longer felt cold and she found herself relaxing at the enveloping warmth around her.

Alice felt Dante's arm wrap around her body as they both settled in to sleep. It was warm...

It felt like home.

* * *

><p><strong>AN  
><strong>_Well this chapter pretty much concludes this story.  
><em>

_...I'm kidding. This chapter concludes this "arc" and now it'll move on to rebuilding the Aegis and the story from now on will be very much focused on Dante and Alice's growth, together and individually.  
><em>

_There will be more "steamy" love scenes like the one that was in this chapter, in the future. So for those romance lovers out there, just keep an eye out for that ;) _

_Please review! I like reading them.  
><em>


	33. Happy Birthday Alice

**Character List:**

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight  
><em>

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 33 -Happy Birthday, Alice  
><strong>

"Well that's the last of it," Dante said as he moved a small drawer into Alice's room. "That didn't take too long."

Alice nodded in agreement. "I guess it's because I don't really have that much furniture anymore." She laughed sheepishly as she played with her long hair. "U-Uhm...thanks by the way, you know, for helping me move all this."

"Oh, sure." Dante awkwardly cleared his throat afterwards, trying to avoid an awkward silence, but failing greatly.

"Uhm, about last night...are we really-?"

"I told you I won't leave you." The black haired archer smiled and blushed slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "This is your house so...if you want me staying here too, I can."

Her heart sped up as she quickly nodded, showing great interest in the idea. "I-I'd like that...!" she exclaimed.

Dante heard her and immediately let out a stifled laugh, trying to hide his grin behind his hand.

Alice realized her tone from the previous statement and she blushed a bright cherry red. "W-Wait, I mean...-"

Seeing her flustered and embarrassed brought great amusement to Dante, but he decided to let her off the hook for now. If they were to be living together from now on, there would be plenty more opportunities to embarrass her in the future.

"I guess I'll take Se - I mean -" Dante stopped himself before he could say Sean's name. "I'll take the room next to yours then."

He thought it was too soon to mention her little brother's name without bringing up a somber atmosphere.

"Mm, okay." Alice seemed to take notice of the near accidental slip, but she tried her best to smile anyways. She promised Dante last night that it would be the last night she would be sad over the deaths of their loved ones.

"So!" she exclaimed, trying to change the subject. "Are you going to go help with the barracks now?"

"Probably. Even though a lot of the mushroom houses were undamaged, a lot of the Aegis soldiers don't have places to live."

"I want to help!"

Alice saw Dante chuckling softly in amusement.

"Let's get going then."

* * *

><p>Xin limped out from the infirmary to the best of his ability. His leg still was not fully healed yet, but he felt restless being confined to a bed for the past couple of days.<p>

"Hey, boy," he whispered, going up to the large gray wolf that Athena gave to him to flee Krylin's castle. He's been meaning to give him back to Nackt's snow elves, but the wolf seemed to be growing attached to him.

The wolf whined happily as it saw Xin approach him. It leaped out from behind the brush near the infirmary and ran up to the crusader.

Xin laughed as the wolf licked at his cheeks. "Easy, easy," he said, running his fingers through the wolf's soft fur.

It went around and sniffled at the back pocket of his gray pants, eagerly.

"You're hungry, aren't you?" Xin chuckled and pulled out a small bag of leftover crackers that were given to him by the clerics. He poured the dry crackers onto his hand and watched as the large wolf ate them up hungrily.

As soon as it licked up the crumbs, its head suddenly jerked up and it turned around.

"What is it?" Xin asked, leaning over slightly so that he could look around the wolf.

Just a few feet away from him, he saw the one person that he hadn't been expecting to see.

"Princess?" he asked when he saw the princess of Mu Lung standing there haughtily with an arrogant glare that was shot his way.

The blond, doll-like girl pursed her small lips and asked, "are you doing okay?"

Xin couldn't tell if she was asking a question or if she was commanding him to do something because of her pompous tone, but he eventually figured it out and answered back. "I'm fine, Princess."

"I-I see...that's good then!"

The crusader stared at her curiously and asked, "were you worried about me, Princess?"

Mytsu let out something that sounded like a loud scoff or a stifled cough. "That's ridiculous! Like I would be worried over a mere knight like you! I'm only here to thank you for saving me that other time!"

She blushed at the growing silence and she eventually whipped around sharply on the heel of her fur trimmed boots. "I want a response back at least!" she snapped at him.

"Eh?" Xin blinked at her. "Oh, erm, you're welcome, Princess."

Mytsu nervously shuffled her feet and fiddled with the end of her lacey skirt, looking as though she had something else to say to the male warrior.

Xin noticed her standing there awkwardly and asked, "would you like to pet him?"

"H-Huh?" The petite girl saw him running his hand over the large wolf's soft fur. "Th-They don't seem to really like me! Animals aren't too friendly with me, you know."

"Have you ever been near one?"

"Well no, but-"

"Then you won't know until you try, right?" Xin smiled and motioned for her to come closer.

Mytsu hesitantly walked over to him and blushed when he took her soft hand. She pursed her lips together, trying hard to not look so flustered in front of him. She was a royal princess for crying out loud!

"See? He likes you."

Xin dragged her hand across the wolf's thick fur and laughed softly when it turned its large head and nuzzled Mytsu.

The princess let out a yelp of surprise, but relaxed when she realized that the wolf meant no harm.

"I assume that you don't venture the outside world too much, do you Princess?"

"Hmph!" Mytsu scoffed haughtily, keeping her hand on the wolf. "Like I have the freedom and leisure to do that! Besides, you saw what happened when I was in El Nath." She dropped her gaze and muttered softly, "it's dangerous out here now."

"That's true, but-"

"That's why I want you to become my knight!"

Xin blinked in surprise, his dark blue eyes widening at Mytsu's sudden proposition. He let go of the young girl's hand and watched as she turned around sharply to face him. Her bright gold eyes seemed to pierce right through him as she spoke.

"Protect me!" she demanded, "become my personal knight!"

"Am I really the right person, Princess?" Xin asked quizzically. "Don't you have your own royal guards to protect you?"

Mytsu blushed, not really wanting to say the real reason why she wanted him to be her personal knight. "I d-do! But they're not good enough! If they had met those two assassins in El Nath, they would have surely been killed. But you-!"

"I'm with the Aegis Reconnaissance, Princess. I'm afraid I can't."

Trying vainly to hide her growing embarrassment, Mytsu turned away from him and sharply retorted, "then quit!"

"...You really are a selfish, spoiled princess."

The blond girl widened her gold eyes and pursed her lips together at his words. It wasn't the first time she had heard such words being used to describe her, but they still hurt. She didn't want to present herself in such a way, but her upbringing of being waited on hand and foot just encouraged that behavior even more. She _especially_ didn't want to present herself like this to Xin. This kind, caring, and handsome warrior that had saved her life...

From behind her she heard him chuckle softly.

Mytsu turned back around and saw him laughing light-heartedly at her.

"Princesses are supposed to be spoiled, no?" Xin smiled warmly at her despite his previous words. It seemed as though he did not mind Mytsu's bratty personality. "Unfortunately though, Princess. I will have to refuse your offer."

"But-!"

"You may be a princess, but I'm hardly suited for that type of work and I enjoy my time in the Aegis. I have no plans on leaving."

She was frustrated; frustrated that things were not going the way she wanted it to. She tried not to show it outwardly, but she couldn't help it. Her cheeks puffed up in irritation and her fists were clenched tightly by her side.

"Fine!" she practically shouted at him. "Then I will stay here in Henesys!"

"Princess..."

"During my time here I want you to train me!"

"Huh...?"

Mytsu crossed her arms over her chest and replied back in a haughty tone, "I've been getting some training from the Dawn Warriors in Mu Lung, but I'd like to learn how to fight."

"Are you sure, princess?" Xin asked, questionably. He eyed her petite body, wondering if those thin arms could even hold a sword.

Mytsu noticed this and immediately went into a small fit. "I'm sure! If you aren't going to be my knight, I might as well learn how to defend myself! Train me! Surely you can do that much, correct?"

Seeing as how he wasn't going to be getting out of this one, Xin complied with her forceful demands. "I'll train you, Princess. In exchange, I want you to promise me that you will not bring up the knight subject ever again."

The young girl widened her gold eyes, but agreed to his terms. "F-Fine! I accept!"

"No, promise me." Xin stepped forward and held out his hand with his pinky extended towards her.

Mytsu pursed her lips and clicked her tongue in frustration as she wrapped her own pinky around his, "sealing" the promise.

"Thank you, Princess."

"Whatever, stupid," she venomously spat out as she quickly unlinked herself from him. Mytsu was beyond frustrated with this man. It was the first time in her life that something did not go the way she wanted it to. She was a princess! How dare he defy her!

Xin sighed tiredly as he watched the young girl storm away from him after her last few, harsh words.

She really was a spoiled princess.

* * *

><p>"We need more wood up here!"<p>

"Don't worry! The next wagon is coming around soon!"

Alice held the thick nail in between her fingers as she leaned up against the wooden support. She hammered in the nail with a few hits and moved onto the next nail.

"Mm, I really hope this could be done quickly," Ada groaned tiredly beside Alice as she slumped down onto the ground, throwing her hammer carelessly on the ground. "I'm tired of sleeping in the tents."

"Well," Alice laughed lightly as she knocked in another nail to the support beam. "At the rate that everyone's working at right now, it should be done by next week!"

Ada threw her head back dramatically and let out a loud exasperated sigh. "There's no damn privacy at the camp! Not to mention that perverted platoon leader of mine that thinks its okay to barge into the women's tents unannounced."

Alice looked over to where Ada was glaring at and saw Cedric following Dante with a large bucket of nails, his back hunched over and his facial expression looking as though he was whining. She couldn't hear them, but she saw Dante, who was carrying a wooden support beam over his shoulder, quickly whip around to his friend and yell something at him, probably telling him to shut up.

She giggled at the sight and commented, "Cedric's like a little kid, isn't he?"

"That would be an understatement," Ada grumbled.

Alice saw the green haired bandit stop for a few seconds and turn his head towards them. Immediately his face brightened up and he waved at Ada, giving a goofy grin as well.

The female assassin blushed heavily and grit her teeth as she picked up her hammer. "Get back to work, you damn pervert!" she shouted in embarrassment, threatening to throw the hammer at him.

Ada grunted softly as she got back on her feet. She stood beside Alice, helping the warrior steady the support beam they were nailing in.

"You think Minna's okay?" she suddenly asked Alice.

Alice, taken aback by the question, stopped her hammer and let it simply rest upon the nail head. "Eh?" she asked.

"It was just a few days ago, but it feels like its been months," Ada muttered somberly. She lowered her gray eyes to the ground and asked, "you know she was so adamant about meeting Ivan? Even during the battle she told me she knew that he was near and that she wanted to be with him...I should have stopped her. Maybe then-"

"We shouldn't be blaming ourselves for what happened."

Ada raised her head to look at Alice, who resumed hammering in the nail. Her eyes were wide with surprise, hearing such words from her friend.

"Minna wanted to be with Ivan and maybe letting her go was for the best. I...I would have wanted it to turn out a different way, but Ivan died as well. I'm sure if Minna was still alive, she would have been sad."

The black haired woman let out a soft, dry chuckle. "Yeah...she was pretty stubborn about him. I still remember that first quest we went out on with just us three. Even at that point I thought she was an annoying girl that couldn't do anything right, but when one of Krylin's undead soldiers came up on us...she really came through, didn't she?"

Alice nodded in agreement, smiling fondly at the memory. "She really cared about us, not just Ivan. That's why...I'm sure that she wants us to move on. She wouldn't want us to be sad. Right?"

Ada stared at Alice until it made the warrior feel uncomfortable.

"Wh-What?" Alice stammered out, blushing softly when she noticed her friend's stare. "It's true! Isn't it?"

"No...it's not that, it's just-"

A loud bell rang across the construction site, catching everyone's attention.

"Ah! Finally! Lunch!" a few of the soldiers said as they walked past the two women.

Alice watched as the workers went for the lunch table, all packed with various foods. There she spotted Dante and Cedric, waiting in line while Cedric was talking to his friend animatedly about something that he had no interest in, judging by his annoyed expression.

"Were you going to give that to him?"

"Eh?" Alice flinched when she saw Ada grinning slyly as she pointed down at the small burlap bag next to her feet.

"You made that right Lunch?"

"I-!"

"Come on!" Ada picked up the bag and slung it over Alice's shoulder. She pushed her friend towards the lunch line, all the while Alice protested. "You need to give it to him before he gets food!"

"But Ada-! I-!"

"Jeez, I can't believe you're still so shy even when you two are together!"

Once the two went up to Cedric and Dante, Alice kept her head down in embarrassment as Ada stepped forward to speak.

It was Cedric who greeted them first, stopping his conversation with Dante midway.

"Oh! Ada and Alice-!" Cedric happily exclaimed before being brushed off to the side by Ada.

She went up to Dante and dragged Alice towards her by the arm. "Alice has something for you."

"Huh...?" Dante tiled his head slightly in confusion when he saw the warrior avoid eye contact with him. "Are you sure-?"

"I'm sure," the black haired woman said in confidence as she pulled Dante out from the line. She nudged Alice in the ribs, silently telling her to talk.

Alice stuttered unintelligently. "U-Uhm, well, you see-"

"Have fun, you two!" Ada said teasingly as she took Dante's spot in line.

Despite the fact that it was terribly embarrassing, Alice cleared her throat and led Dante away from the line and around the back of the main construction site.  
>When they found a nice patch of shade underneath a tall maple tree, Alice turned around sharply and pulled out a lunchbox that was wrapped rather messily in a checkered handkerchief.<p>

"H-Here," she mumbled, holding the lunch out for Dante.

Dante blinked as he took the box in his hands. "When did you have time to make this?"

"Well...before we left, remember I stayed behind?"

He thought back to when they were done moving in Alice's furniture and were just about to head out when she suddenly told him she had some other business to take care of. Was it during that time that she went to the marketplace, bought food, and even cooked it?

Touched by her actions, Dante blushed a little and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Th-Thanks..."

Alice nervously tucked a lock of her cyan hair behind her ear as she sat down on the flat boulder in the shady area.

When Dante sat down beside her, he unwrapped the handkerchief and placed his hand over the cover of the lunch box. At that moment, he let out a soft chuckle. "I'm sort of expecting a whole bunch of Bubbling rice balls again."

The female warrior let out a slight giggle at the memory of the first lunchbox she presented to him.

He opened up the lunch box and saw a rather neatly arranged assortment of bread slices, fried eggs, vegetables and fruits.

Alice nervously let her eyes dart from the lunch to his face, wondering what his reaction would be. When she didn't see an immediate one, she grew rather impatient with him.

"I can't eat this."

"Eh?"

Dante handed her the lunch box and held out his hands, showing her how dirty they were from the construction work. "See, my hands are dirty."

"So? I packed a fork here too-"

Alice blushed when she saw him open his mouth slightly and point to the lunch, then to his open mouth. She pursed her lips and clapped her hands over his cheeks sharply.

"Ow!" Dante drew back and held his sore cheeks. "What was that for!?"

"Stupid!" Alice exclaimed, embarrassed. "I'm not going to feed you!"

"I'm not going to eat it then."

Unable to come to a decent compromise, Alice frowned sourly, picking up the fork in her hand. She cut a piece of fried egg and held it out to him on the fork. Despite his straight-laced personality, he really was relentless when teasing her.

As soon as he brought the egg into his mouth, he let out a stifled cough.

"I-Is it bad?" asked Alice in worry.

Dante held his hand over his mouth, mumbling something incoherent back to her as he forced himself to swallow it.

"Ah...maybe...maybe I put too much sugar in it."

When Dante finally managed to swallow the egg, he shouted, "who puts sugar on fried eggs!?"

"Well I normally don't! But you said you liked sweet things! So-"

"That doesn't mean you should put sugar on everything! Do you even sample the things you cook before you give them to other people!?"

Alice furrowed her brow, not answering him, only because it was true.

"Jeez...now I see why Sean cooked everything-" Dante stopped himself, realizing that he let her little brother's name slip out, but he saw Alice smile, trying to move past it.

"F-Fine...I'll just do a better job for dinner tonight-"

"No way. You're not going anywhere near the kitchen anymore."

"I can do it if I try-!"

"I'm a much better cook than you. That, I can say in confidence." Dante took the lunch box from her and the fork, eating the food himself, despite it's overly sweet taste.

Alice saw him cringing with each bite, but he ate it anyways. Just like the last time she made lunch for him.

"I-Is it really that bad?" she asked hesitantly.

"Absolutely horrible." Dante took one of the fried eggs and held it out to her to take a bite.

Alice bit into it and immediately she gagged at the sweet taste.

"Told you," he said, shoving the rest into his mouth.

The two sat there side by side, deciding to share the unappetizing lunch to lessen the struggle of eating it. The other workers around them that had settled down to rest and eat their own lunches, shot glances towards them as they continued to make expressions of distaste with each bite.

Ada sat down with Cedric, just a few feet away from Dante and Alice and she smiled at the two, despite their obvious struggle at stomaching the awful lunch.

"They really changed a lot together, haven't they?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Hm?" Cedric widened his green eyes in question and looked over to where Ada was looking at. He couldn't help, but laugh at the sour expression Dante had as he ate the lunch. "He's such a picky eater too! I'm surprised he's even trying to finish that!"

The green haired bandit looked down at his martyr and asked, "do you think Alice changed?"

"Mm," Ada stuck her spoon into the meaty, brown soup she held. Languidly she stirred it as she remarked, "I still remember how lost she was when Dante got killed. But now...even with her whole family gone, she seems to be trying hard to move past it. Maybe it's because of Dante, I don't know, but I'm glad to see that she changed."

"Hm," Cedric said in contemplation as he looked back at the couple. He smiled ear to ear as he scooted closer to Ada so that they were touching shoulders. "You changed too, Ada!"

"H-Huh? What are you saying all of a sudden-!?" Ada froze when she felt the bandit lean over and give her a quick peck on the cheek.

The green haired man laughed sheepishly as a soft blush spread over his cheeks. "You seemed to tolerate me more."

While he did expect a physical, _violent_ response from her, Cedric saw her simply turn her head away and glare at the ground. Curiously, he leaned over slightly and saw her ear was pink as well as a good portion of her face.

"So you do!" he exclaimed happily, throwing his arms around her.

"G-Get off, you pervert!" Ada stuttered out.

"We can finally sleep in the same tent together!"

Ada let out a sharp grunt and elbowed him hard in the stomach. "Don't get ahead of yourself," she grumbled as Cedric keeled over in pain.

"M-Maybe you didn't change that much," he whispered, laughing a little at the end as he tried to recover from her sharp nudge.

Glaring daggers at him, Ada clenched her fist as if she was trying to hit him again, but Cedric stopped her before she could with a gentle tug of her arm. He leaned up and whispered with a smile, "but maybe it's better if you don't change. I like this Ada the best."

Ada let out an awkward sound that sounded like a stifled squeak when she felt him kiss her. Her whole face turned a deep red as he pulled away. "Y-You! Now you've done it!" she shouted in embarrassment.

Cedric simply chuckled as he brought her in for another hug. "I always do, don't I?"

* * *

><p>"Are they doing well?" Froid asked as he was led down the dark stairway into the underground prisons by an Aegis guard.<p>

"We've done all we can to accommodate them just as you said, Mr. Hermes."

"Good."

"Here's their cell."

Froid stood there, watching the guard pull out a ring of keys and unlock the heavy iron door. Once the door was open, he thanked the guard briefly before stepping into the cell.

"Oh, look who's here, if it's isn't Mr. Hospitality himself," a spiteful voice spat out from one of the dark corners.

Froid went closer with his flickering lantern and the light revealed a messy patch of red hair belonging to one of the archer siblings.

Saya glared at him hatefully and said, "if you think you'll win us over by making us comfortable while we're prisoners, you're sadly mistaken, old man."

The ice archmage moved closer to her, but was met with retaliation. She spat at him, hitting him in the face as she kicked her legs around.

"Saya," Kaito, her brother, said warningly from the other side of the cell. "Be calm."

"You can be calm for the both of us, Kaito! Like I'd be calm around this guy!"

Froid chuckled softly as he listened to the siblings' small bickering. He removed his glasses and wiped off Saya's spit from them off his robes. "I'm not treating you well because I want to win you two over." He raised his arm and used his sleeve to wipe off the rest of her spit from his cheek. "I'm treating you well because I think you two deserve better."

"What? Are you taking pity on us, old man?" Saya scoffed loudly in a haughty manner. "You must be kidding me!"

"Saya," Kaito said again in a soft, warning tone.

"No, I'm not taking pity on you two either," Froid replied, putting his glasses back on. He turned his head and looked over at Kaito, who was sitting there silently, chained to the wall just like his sister and staring back at the ice mage.

Froid grunted softly as he got up on his feet. He took the lantern with him and added in, "I just feel like you two deserve better. I don't know what kind of lives you were living before you met Krylin, but it doesn't seem like it was the best kind of life. That's all."

He flashed a small smile at them and quietly excused himself from the prison cell.

As soon as he left, Saya grit her teeth and pulled on her chains sharply. "What's that stupid old man trying to do?"

Kaito didn't answer her. Instead he kept his head down as he quietly contemplated over what Froid had told them before he left.

* * *

><p>Alice sat there at the small table in her house as she listened to the repetitive sound of Dante chopping up various meats and vegetables in preparation for their dinner.<p>

"U-Uhm..." she piped up nervously, "should I help with something?"

"No," Dante said sternly. "I don't want a repeat of today's lunch."

"It wasn't that bad!" Alice retorted, only to see Dante stop chopping and stare at her with an eyebrow raised skeptically. She bit the inside of her cheek and grumbled, "fine."

"It's more of a help for me if you don't help."

She pouted a little as she watched the archer chop up the remaining carrots and onions before dumping the chopped items into a small pot. He really did seem to know his way around the kitchen...at least a lot better than she did.

The enticing smell of whatever he was making wafted around the house, making Alice's mouth water.

"Hope you're okay with soup."

"Eh?" Alice snapped out of her brief food daze and replied, "i-it really doesn't matter."

"Well since it's almost winter, it should be fine," Dante said, putting the fire out on the stove. He took out two bowls from the cabinets and poured the contents of the pot into them.

Alice watched as he brought the two bowls over to the table where she was sitting at and place one in front of her.

"Here." He handed her a spoon.

She took it and poked at the thick, creamy looking soup hesitantly. She raised her head to look at him and she saw him staring back at her, almost expecting her to eat the first bite.

Alice blushed softly and ate the chowder-like soup. At the first spoonful, she was already blown away.

"It's...good," she whispered in awe.

"Told you," he said, smirking. Dante went to eat his own soup. "Although with the lack of ingredients you had, I guess it's not the best-"

"Where did you learn how to cook?" Alice asked, interrupting him.

He looked at her and saw a look of bewilderment on her face as she anxiously awaited an answer. Dante let out a soft chuckle. "It's just basic stuff. I'm not particularly good at it-"

"Stop being modest!" Alice exclaimed. "It tastes really good!"

Dante recognized her as being genuine in what she was saying to him. In turn, he blushed a little at the compliment and muttered, "r-really. This is the first time anyone's eaten something I've made. The old barracks used to have a little stove in each room if you didn't feel like eating at the cafeteria."

"Cedric told me you ate a lot when you were little," Alice said, giggling softly when she saw Dante blush even harder.

He cleared his throat awkwardly and mumbled, "well, the cafeteria food wasn't good all the time and I felt like I was eating too much of the food." When he heard Alice giggle more, he shot her a disgruntled glare.

Alice noticed this and stifled her laughs, focusing her attention back on her soup.

"So, I just made meals by myself," Dante finished, stirring his soup idly.

The blue haired girl held her spoon in her mouth, silently staring at him.

"What? Quit looking at me with that look of pity."

"Eh?" Alice drew back sharply. "I-I wasn't!"

"You're so easy to read. Of course you were."

Alice pouted a little and lowered her head, trying to hide her blush. There was a short period of silence before she awkwardly whispered out, "a-at least you don't have to make meals just for yourself now."

Dante blinked at her, stopping his spoon just before they reached his lips. "Uhm...ye-yeah..." he muttered, stuttering as he blushed as well. "You could say that."

From then on, the two ate the rest of their meal in silence. Occasionally they'd exchange glances, but would just go back to eating. It was awkward trying to break the silence, but Alice was at a loss and so was Dante.

Once they were both done, Dante took their bowls.

"You should go take a bath. I'll clean up the table and kitchen," he told her.

Alice nodded and got up from the table. Just before she left the main room, she turned back to Dante, who was putting the dirty bowls and pot into the sink.

"I...I'm looking forward to the next meal you make!"

Dante stopped what he was doing, never turning back to her. He heard her quickly run into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. At the sound of the running bath water, he brought his hand up to his mouth and grumbled as a bright red blush worked its way across his face, "idiot..."

* * *

><p>She blew out a soft puff of warm air in relief as she brushed through her wet cyan hair.<p>

It's been a long time since she took a warm bath - a proper one. One where she could sit in the warm water and just let her muscles relax and let her mind go free.

Alice hummed softly as she dried off her long hair, one final time with a towel. "Oh...!" she reminded herself, "I forgot to give Dante some clean towels." She strode over to the drawers in her room and pulled out a long, white towel.

She went to the bathroom that was out in the hall and gently knocked on the door, hoping that she doesn't startle him.

"Dante?" she asked softly.

"Yeah?" he answered back.

"U-Uhm, I have a towel for you. I forgot to leave a clean towel in there when I was done."

"Just bring it in."

Alice didn't think too much of it at first when she twisted the doorknob, but the actual realization that Dante was taking a bath at that moment didn't properly register with her until after she opened up the door. Her cheeks turned a bright pink as she quickly looked away in embarrassment when she saw him in the tub. The steam in the bathroom didn't really help when she could still see him clearly.

"Are you going to stand there until I'm done?" Dante asked, smirking when he saw that she was embarrassed. He leaned back in the tub and rested his arms on the edges. "I'll take that towel now," he said, motioning for her to bring it over.

The warrior pursed her lips together and edged closer to him, still skirting her eyes away shyly. Alice flinched when she heard him get up out of the water.

"Are you that nervous?" Dante asked, chuckling as he took the towel from her.

"Y-You expect me not to be!?"

He smirked at the back of her head as he dried off his black hair. "I thought you wanted to do it last night."

"I...!" Alice let out a loud gasp when she felt him wrap his arms around her and bring her against him. "D-Dante!"

"I know I said I'd wait until we were ready, but-" Dante lovingly nuzzled her neck, kissing it softly much to Alice's pleasure.

"But?" Alice sleepily murmured, falling for his sweet actions.

Dante buried his face into the back of her shoulder and whispered, "I was really happy...when you said those things to me during dinner."

Alice smiled a little at his sudden honesty. "Really?" She felt a slight nod of his head against her shoulder.

"Maybe I really did hate being alone all those years," Dante muttered. He gently tightened his hold around her and blushed a little at what he was about to say to her. "Because I'm really happy right now. Just knowing that you'll be here with me."

Alice couldn't help, but giggle softly at how it sounded like it was hard for him to form such heartfelt words verbally. Perhaps this was why he said such similar things when he was drunk? She could still remember the first time she escorted him back to his room after a night out with Cedric. He stopped her from leaving, almost desperately telling her to stay there with him.

He didn't want to be left alone, despite what he said or did outwardly.

"Stupid," Alice said, releasing herself from him. "Put some clothes on. You'll catch a cold."

She left the bathroom, but soon after, Dante followed her. He had hastily wrapped the towel around his waist and he stood there in front of her bedroom, glancing down at her longingly.

Alice saw the vulnerability in his eyes and the longing. She had never seen him make such an expression in front of her, but for once she saw the much softer, gentle side of him. The person that he truly was. The person that his cold exterior was hiding.

To abandon him at such a vulnerable stage would have been heartless of her.

"Dante..." she whispered, blushing as she reached up to pet his black hair.

He meekly leaned into her hand, muzzling it softly, and took hold of her arm, kissing the palm of her hand and gently kissing at her wrist.

Alice slowly backed up, silently inviting him into her room. She felt her heart beat quicken when she heard him close the door behind him. It was unnerving, but at the same time...calming.

The back of her knees met the edge of her bed and she let out a little surprise yelp as she stumbled back.

Alice squeezed her eyes shut when she fell upon the soft mass of bed sheets. Cautiously, she reopened her eyes and trembled when Dante leaned over, placing his hands down on either side of her head, trapping her.

"I must have sounded stupid," he muttered, leaning forward and whispering into her ear.

"Eh?" Alice gently pushed him away, just so that she could see his face. She saw the brightest red blush on his cheeks as he looked away from her, embarrassed by his own actions.

"It's not like I say those kind of things often to other people," Dante grumbled, trying to explain himself, "I mean...I don't think I've ever said those things to anyone except-!" He stopped talking when Alice brought him in for a kiss.

"I know," Alice said, giggling softly when she pulled away.

Dante blushed harder, but remained silent. He was too embarrassed to talk, so instead he acted.

Alice placed her hands on his shoulders as he buried his face in her neck, nuzzling it. She could feel his hot breath against her skin.

"Dante..." she whispered, tangling her fingers in his damp hair. Alice held his head there, liking the subtle kisses and puffs of air he blew out against her neck. Each touch felt as if they tingled pleasurably.

Her breath faltered when she felt his hand rest at her waist, his fingers fluttering on the hem of her shirt, hesitating on their next action.

Alice gave him a silent 'okay' by gently holding him tighter and closer to her.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, feeling his calloused fingertips work their way up underneath her shirt. Alice bit down on her bottom lip, trying to stifle herself.

Dante pulled away just a little bit so that he could look at her face. He saw that she was a huge, blushing mess. Her cheeks were a healthy pink and her eyes were squeezed shut, not to mention her whole body was rigid with tension.

"Hm," he let out a soft chuckle, trying to hold down his laughter.

Alice heard this and she cracked her eyes open slightly. "Wh-What...?" She felt a slight anger when she saw him trying not to laugh. "What's so funny?" she asked, not sure if he was laughing at her or at the situation.

Dante slid his hand down to the curve of her back and breathed unevenly, trying not to look at her. "S-Sorry," he said in between chuckles, "you just looked really funny a while ago."

The blue haired girl could barely form words at the embarrassment she felt from what he said. "Th-That's mean! How could you say that?" Alice pursed her lips together tightly and pulled herself out from underneath him. "It isn't like this is easy for me either!" she snapped out, blushing furiously as she sat up on the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I-It's embarrassing as hell! But I'm only willing to do this because it's you!"

Alice waited, waiting for him to say something in response, but her mouth nearly dropped when she heard him take his hands up off the bed and simply leave the room.

_"Was he really mad?" _she thought as she glanced back, expecting him to come back into the room any minute.

"Stupid Dante..._I_ should be the one that's mad Of the nerve, laughing at me in the middle of _that_...-" Alice stopped grumbling under her breath when she heard him reenter the room. She quickly straighten out her back and faced away from the door, keeping her composure as if she was still angry with him.

She didn't know what to expect when she felt the weight of the bed sink in behind her, indicating that he sat down behind her. She expected something like a snappy remark or a lecture about how she was being uptight for no reason, but she certainly was not prepared for what happened next.

"Would this make you feel better?"

Alice turned around, but before she could fully, she saw him lift something above her head and place it around her neck.

"This is..." she whispered, her blue eyes widening at the sight of a familiar red butterfly necklace resting on her chest.

Dante smiled as he fixed the small, delicate chain. "I was wondering when it would be a good time to give you. I've been keeping it with me this whole time after you fought Mary." He patted the pocket of his dark green pants that he now wore.

Alice was left speechless. She had forgotten about the necklace, mainly because she wanted to forget about it after seeing it around Mary's neck, but had never expected it to turn up again.

"It was always yours," Dante whispered, wrapping his arms around her. He leaned his head against her own. After a long pause, he gently nuzzled the back of her neck and whisperd, "_I'm_ always yours."

The young woman felt his words tug at her heart strings. She gently released herself from him and turned around to face him.

In the darkness of the room, softly illuminated by the moonlight filtering in through the single window, Dante felt mesmerized by her shimmering blue eyes.

"Stupid Dante, I know that," Alice said, her voice cracking with the threat of tears. She quickly threw her arms around him and sunk into the warmth of his body.

He held her head against his shoulder as she cried softly from the pure joy she felt. Dante smiled gently and whispered into her ear, "Happy Birthday, Alice."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_I'm sorry for the minimal amount of plot progression in this chapter. It was mainly just fortifying the relationships between the characters, new and old. _

_I promise the next chapter will answer who destroyed the Aegis records with Cecilia and Alec (although I think it's kind of obvious who did it considering that both of them were actually alive *hint hint*), why Meg was not actually the World Tree's seed, and a lot more information on Dr. Everard's connection with Alec and how Xin came to be. _

_After that, there will be a new quest Dante and Alice go on together :) _

_Please review! I really want to thank Kachingling-chan and Ka-tay's mind for your reviews. It's really something when your readers can fall in love with your characters as much as you do ^_^ And I really appreciate how you guys are pretty much my only consistent reviewers now haha. _

_FlipHazards - Yeah, from the start I've made it so that this story will not follow the leveling system of MapleStory. It's unrealistic to include that in a Maple fic where there is no game to reality connections. If that makes any sense. :) _

_Reedle - I'm flattered that you think my story is good enough to be reposted elsewhere, but I'd like it to remain on only. Sorry ): I have my reasons, I hope you can respect that. _


	34. Infiltrate Kerning City

**A/N **_Yeah so normally I leave the A/N at the end, but this chapter will have SLIGHT M rated themes. HINT HINT. Just a warning. _

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 34 - Infiltrate Kerning City  
><strong>

The air was getting bitterly cold, showing signs of a chilly winter was approaching. The rebuilding process of Henesys and Ellinia was hastened in order to provide everyone with the proper shelter to endure through the winter.

It was already three weeks since the Aegis overtook Victoria Island, reclaiming it from Krylin. Or at least, a part of it.

"Kerning City is still beyond our control. Although not sided with Krylin, there are reports that many of the citizens in Kerning City are against the Aegis."

"Hm," Dances with Balrog said, contemplating deeply on this issue. "We can't just charge in with a huge army. Not with most of the soldiers occupied with rebuilding Ellinia and Henesys. Not to mention that we wouldn't want to impose such a forceful image of the Aegis on these people when they already have a negative view on us."

"That's very true," Grendel replied.

"Let me go there. It was my responsibility to control my city. I have to at least get it back myself," Dark said, only to have Grendel disapprove of his notion.

"It's too dangerous," the elderly wizard said. "We have no idea who's running the city now. I'm sure that once word got out that Krylin was defeated that a new leader came out to control the city."

"Xeros?"

Grendel shook his head at the Perion council leader. "I doubt it. We don't know what became of him after the day Krylin disappeared. With the World Tree regaining its strength again, he might be in hiding, presumably regaining his own strength."

Dark let out a soft sigh in frustration. "We don't even know where he is."

"It is indeed a problem," replied Grendel, furrowing his brow, deepening the wrinkles on his forehead. "Surely many of Krylin's followers have retreated to the areas near Kerning and Perion. There's no doubt that many of them will side with Xeros, if they haven't already."

"Should we send in a Reconnaissance member into Kerning to gather information?"

"No. Not only is it risky, but we might only be wasting our time and resources. We need to figure out who is running things down in Kerning City right now and we need to know the situation with Xeros from a reliable source."

Dark leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "So in other words, from the mouth of someone higher up in the chain of command."

"That's right. There's no way we can send in a Reconnaissance member in without drawing attention to them. They'll be new to them and they won't have any authority to get close to the top."

* * *

><p>"The barracks seems to be coming along nicely," Alice commented, turning to look at the nearly finished structure as she and Dante walked away from the work site.<p>

"Yeah, most of the hard work is done. A lot of the other buildings in Henesys are done too."

Alice smiled as she looked around at the many cozy mushroom houses lining Henesys. "I'm glad. It looks a little bit different than before, but it finally feels like we're back."

Dante smiled down at her and chuckled, "thing are back to normal, huh?"

"You could say that," she replied, giggling.

Dante just felt glad that Alice was coping well with what happened to her. It seemed like she had moved on from Lia, Sean, and Minna's deaths. There were times in the last few weeks that he would wake up to the sound of her crying beside him in the middle of the night. She wouldn't tell him why she was crying, but he already knew why. He didn't expect her to cope with her losses that easily, despite what he told her.

But now it seemed like she was back to her usual self completely.

"What are you going to make tonight, Dante?" Alice asked, excited at the thought of hot food after a long day's work.

"What do you feel like eating?"

"Mm, maybe a chowder...with the bread we bought yesterday!"

Dante couldn't help, but smile softly at her enthusiasm. "Okay, I'll make a chowder then."

* * *

><p>"Again."<p>

Mytsu let out a loud, exasperated sigh as she dropped her broadsword to the ground. She instantly fell to the ground and held her trembling hands.

"What's wrong?" Xin asked, walking up to her.

The blond princess didn't even have the strength left to lift her head to shoot him a nasty glare like she wanted to.

"Don't tell me you've given up already."

Mytsu grit her teeth as she felt the palms of her hands burning with blisters and open sores. "You..."

Xin gave her an impassive gaze. "You wanted to train with me, princess-"

"Don't call me that!" she shouted venomously. Mytsu finally raised her head and let the tears stream down her cheeks freely. She gave him the fiercest look she had ever given anyone and screamed, "how dare you call me a 'princess' when you don't even treat me like one!"

He stood over her and whispered, "I am not going to wait on you hand and foot. Your title may be 'Princess,' but you hardly live up to it. So until you do, I will not treat you as one."

"What!?" Mytsu snapped out.

"You're the one that asked for this. You wanted me to train you. I don't care if you're using this opportunity to try and seduce me to become your knight."

Mytsu blushed at how blunt he was...and how easily he figured her out. "I-I'm not-!"

"-I won't waste anymore of my time until I know you're genuinely serious about this." Xin turned around and walked away from her, leaving her all alone in the training area.

The princess widened her gold colored eyes at what he was doing. "Hey! You!" She couldn't believe how easily his personality could change in front of her. What ever happened to the gentle, sweet person she thought he was?

"Mytsu."

This was the first time she has ever heard her name from him and it surprised her.

"I can tolerate that you're spoiled, but a princess needs to be honest. If you really want me to be your knight, tell me your real reason." Xin paused. "If you like me, then show it to me."

"I-!"

"If you like yourself, then you should show your true personality instead of hiding behind a facade."

Mytsu drew back at his words. It was the first time anyone has ever told her something like that. Not even her own father said such things to her when he was the one most aware of her haughty behavior in the palace.

"That is the one thing I despise most about you," Xin finished off before leaving her.

She sat there on the ground, ignoring the aching pain on her blistered hands and focusing more on his words.

She didn't know how long she was there, but the full darkness of night settled in and the air was filled with the sound of silence. Mytsu opened her mouth and let out ragged breaths, puffs of it coming out as white clouds in the chilly temperature.

Finally...

"You damn peasant!" she screamed, grabbing the hilt of her sword, ignoring the stinging pain of her blisters.

Mytsu stood up on her feet and grit her teeth as tears of anger flowed down her cheeks.

_"I'll show you!" _

"I'll show everyone!" she cried out as she resumed her training in the darkness of the night.

Not too far away, Xin listened to her, leaning against one of the trees lining the training area. He bowed his head and smiled.

"That's a princess a knight wouldn't mind serving."

* * *

><p>Dante brushed his fingers through his damp black hair, combing it out and styling it just a little bit before he brought a towel up over his shoulders. He opened the door to the bathroom and let the cold air of the rest of the house inside.<p>

The cooling sensation felt just right against his skin, which was warmed up by the hot bath water.

"Alice...?" he whispered, gently opening up the door to her room.

He's been meaning to make a bed frame for himself, but never really got around to it. It wasn't like he was going to fit in Sean's bed and...to be honest, Alice really didn't seem to be pushing him to sleep in another room.

Her room was dark, but he could make out her sleeping form on the bed.

Dante quietly tiptoed over to the bed, careful not to wake her, but he stopped when he got closer and saw her fully in the dim moonlit room.

She was sleeping on the bed, soundly, but-

"Idiot..." Dante growled softly under his breath, blushing in embarrassment when he saw her in nothing, but her underwear and a loose white camisole. As much as he wanted to go back to minding his own business, he found it near impossible for his eyes to leave her sleeping form.

For once, he noticed how nicely her body had developed over the years that he had not seen her. She had a more curvaceous figure than before, albeit she was still a bit_ lanky_ compared to other girls.

Dante carefully sat down on the bedside and placed his hands down on either side of her. She stirred slightly, but she didn't wake up. For a moment, he simply stared down at her, staring at her sleeping expression. His eyes then went down to the red butterfly necklace that was resting on her collarbones.

Ever since the night that he gave her back the necklace, things seem to settle down between them. Neither him, nor her, would make any advances towards each other. There were a few kisses here and there, but that was it.

Dante felt his heart rate increase and his mouth dry up as his eyes trailed down her body. He felt his body start to flood with a warm heat as the ends of his fingers twitched.

"Idiot..." he whispered, leaning down, "I'm still a guy. You can't just be leaving yourself vulnerable like this..."

Dante gave her a soft kiss on her lips. As if that was what woke her up, Alice let out a soft sound and opened her eyes sleepily.

"Alice," Dante said, staring down at her. "S-Sorry I-" He froze when she simply started up at him in a daze, smiling sweetly. "Alice..."

"Maybe..." she said softly, "I'm leaving myself vulnerable on purpose." Alice giggled lightly, moving slightly underneath him. "It got a little hot after I took a bath so...I thought I should wear something lighter to sleep."

"Even though you know we sleep in the same bed."

Alice simply smiled at him. "Because I know you won't do anything to me while I sleep."

"You're saying that with such confidence," Dante replied with a dry chuckle, leaning down, ready to kiss her again. "Even though you say that...I'm still a man, Alice."

She felt him kiss her hotly, to which she could only let out a soft whimper. He left her breathless when he pulled away.

Dante moved his hands so that he was pinning down her wrists on the bed. "If I see you like this, I feel like all of my self-control and the years I spent training and disciplining myself just goes out the window," he said in a husky voice.

"Then let it," Alice responded, inviting him to her with her soft blue eyes. "I've told you before...I...I want it to be with you. Nobody else." She still saw him hesitating and she finally added in, "don't show me the straight-laced, cold platoon leader Dante that's always in control of his emotions...show me the one that only I'm allowed to see."

Letting go of all of his self-restraint at the sound of her words, Dante dove in and kissed her deeply. He pulled away soon after, but he quickly kissed her again, not waiting for her to take a breath.

"Dante..." whispered Alice, squirming slightly when he dotted kissed down from her mouth to her jaw, to her neck, and finally down to the lacy black edges of her white camisole. She blushed softly when he gently nuzzled his way to her shoulder.

An involuntary shiver shot through her body when she felt his teeth against her skin. She could hear his ragged breaths as he took the strap to her camisole in between his teeth and drag it down to her elbow.

The cold air hit her exposed chest and Alice whined a little, trying to move her arms to cover herself up.

"You've seen me shirtless plenty of times," Dante said, smirking as he held her down.

"Th-This is different obviously!" Alice protested, blushing heavily when she saw him looking down at her chest. "Stupid Dante..."

"You're the one that said I can."

"Y-Yeah, but-!"

Alice let out a sharp cry when she felt him lean down and nuzzle her chest, leaving kisses on her soft skin. "D-Dante...!" she stammered as he flicked his tongue out occasionally to lick at her pale skin. Alice felt a strange heat form inside of her as Dante continued to pleasure her. Her back arched, bringing herself closer to him.

Her cheeks flared when their eyes met again.

"Are you unsure now?" Dante asked, releasing her and bringing her up so that she was sitting.

"I-" Alice brought her arms up to cover her chest. "N-No...I'm not. I still want to..." She shyly mumbled, "with you."

Dante blushed a little, feeling happy from what he was hearing. "Only with me?" he asked, leaning in close to her.

"Of course!" Alice exclaimed, "I don't even want to think of doing this with someone else!"

"You're so adamant about it," he said, chuckling softly. Dante kissed her before she could retort.

She sank into the warmth of his arms as he deepened the kiss. Alice saw fireworks behind her closed eyes. It felt wondrous, like she was being whisked away to a small paradise.

When Dante gently bit down on her lower lip, she moaned and let out a whimper as he plundered her mouth with his tongue. It was like each time they kissed, Dante would actually get a little bit better at it. By now it seemed like he knew what to do to make her react the most.

"Dante..." Alice breathed out as he pulled away. She stared into his half-lidded, red eyes.

He stared back at her with a lustful gaze as he raised a hand to touch her chest.

However just before the two could get tangled up in each other...

"Dante! Alice! Hope you don't mind me-! Oh!"

The two widened their eyes at the sudden sound of her bedroom door opening and at the loud, obnoxious voice. Immediately, Alice screamed and hid behind Dante, initially thinking that it was an intruder, when it was only none other than...

"Cedric!" Dante shouted, "what the hell-!?"

The green haired bandit smiled slyly at the scene in front of him. "Oh, Dante. I see...so_ this_ is why you're staying with Alice. Don't worry. You guys can continue. Just join me and Ada in the living room when you're done. Okay?"

When Cedric shut the door behind him, Dante yelled out after him, embarrassed greatly.

"As if in hell we could!"

* * *

><p>"Sorry about that," Ada mumbled under her breath, blushing a little as she sat on Alice's coach, legs crossed and arms crossed. "I told this moron that you guys would probably need privacy."<p>

Cedric cringed as Ada gave his shoulder a sharp punch. He sheepishly laughed at the other two, sitting opposite of them, embarrassed with everything as well.

"F-Forget it," Dante grumbled.

Alice noticed him shooting subtle glares at Cedric, probably out of spite for ruining their moment. She squirmed uncomfortably in her seat at the tension in the air. "U-Uhm! So! Ada, why are you two here? Aren't you guys in the tents right now?"

"Yeah, why _aren't_ you guys there?" Dante asked sourly, glaring at Cedric again, whom was oblivious to his friend's glares.

The blue haired girl lightly nudged Dante in the ribs, silently telling him to drop the attitude.

"Well...it's winter. It's not exactly warm in a thin little tent," the assassin replied, "i-it definitely wasn't my idea to come barging into your house like this Alice! I wanted to ask you first tomorrow, but this pervert here thought it was an okay idea to just go into people's houses in the middle of the night."

"It's okay," Alice answered, smiling, "you guys can stay if you want."

"Just until the barracks are done!" Ada quickly added in, trying not to seem too overbearing.

Alice giggled and nodded, "sure. We'd like the company, right Dante?"

He only grunted in response.

Ada's face lit up with a gracious grin. "Thanks Alice!" she exclaimed, grateful that she didn't have to sleep out in the cold for one more night.

* * *

><p>The warm morning sun filtered into the small bedroom as Alice and Dante both got ready to leave to help with the construction of the barracks one final time.<p>

Dante uncomfortably cringed and winced at the ointment he was rubbing on his shoulders and arms. It smelled minty, but it had a strong stinging sensation when it met his skin. The clerics that he got it from said that the mixture of herbs would ease his sore muscles, but he had to try it for himself to actually believe that.

"Maybe you should rest for the day," Alice commented worriedly, watching him put the ointment on.

"I'm fine."

"The priest said that your had a lot of muscle damage though!"

"That was a while ago."

Alice bit the inside of her cheek and narrowed her blue eyes at him. "All we're doing is tidying up the inside of the barrack rooms. You should rest."

"I told you I'm fine-" Dante froze when she kissed him softly on the lips.

She pulled away and whispered, "that's an order." Alice smiled playfully when she saw him look away from her with a blush on his face. "I want you to rest for the day. Okay?"

Dante rolled his red eyes at her. "You actually think I will?"

"If you do," Alice said, coaxing him, "I'll-uhm...We can-" she started to turn a bright red, unable to say what she wanted to say.

He quickly caught on, chuckling at her shyness. "If you want to make a bargain, you should at least say it forcefully or say it without stuttering." Dante smirked as he took hold of her wrist, pulling her close with a gentle yank. He lowered his voice to a soft whisper.

"I think the word you're looking for is _sex_."

Alice turned a bright red and pursed her lips in embarrassment as she pulled her arm away from him. "St-Stupid Dante!"

"I'll stay home then, since you promised that now." Dante smiled and moved his hand up to her long blue hair. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Look forward to what!?" Alice exclaimed, still embarrassed at the whole notion. She brought her hand up and smacked Dante in the forehead before he could even react.

"Ow!"

Alice ran out the room, but before she left the doorway, she stopped and looked back at Dante, who was still rubbing his sore forehead. "U-Uhm...you better promise then!"

"I got it."

"Don't leave the house!"

"I'm not a 5 year old!"

Dante heard Alice leave with a sharp 'hmph.' As soon as he heard the sound of the front door slamming shut, he fell back on the bed, laughing softly. "How does she even come up with these things?" he asked himself, stifling his laughter, but failing miserably.

Not soon after, Dante heard a sharp knock on the front door.

Thinking that it was Alice, quickly went to it and opened it up.

"Idiot, see? I'm not leaving-" He stopped when he saw that it wasn't Alice and instead it was an armored Aegis soldier with a rather large brown package in his arms. "Sorry, can I help you?" he asked, straightening himself out.

"This is where Alice Everard lives, correct?"

"Yes? I'm just living with her."

"Please make sure that she gets this package." The soldier handed the package over to Dante.

"What is it?"

"It's Dr. Everard's personal belongings from Omega Sector, sir. We finally got her laboratory cleaned out and Grendel felt that her personal belongings should go to Alice."

"Okay, thank you."

Dante bid the soldier goodbye and closed the door. He stared curiously at the package. It wasn't very heavy, but it rustled a little when Dante set it down on the table. "Sounds like papers," he muttered, looking at the package. _'Probably her research notes.'_ he thought.

Curiosity begged for him to open it, but he decided that it could be done after Alice returns.

As he picked up the box and moved it to the kitchen counter so that Alice could see it when she got back, a single paper slipped out from the sides and fluttered down to the floor.

Dante sighed and bent over to pick it up. Immediately his eyes were drawn to the bold, rather hastily scribbled letters on the top of the paper.

**Human Bio-Project**

Below that were sketches as well as more scribbled up words. Dante furrowed his brow in confusion when he saw what looked like a progression of a human. "Is this how Ivan was created?" he asked himself.

Underneath the messy sketches were random notes, one of which caught Dante's eye.

"Athena?" he muttered, wide eyed at the mention of her name. "Athena Pierce..." he read on. Dante squinted his eyes a little, trying to make out the rest of the words. "World Tree..."

Dante looked over at the box with the rest of Dr. Everard's note in it. Now he was really curious. He wanted to look at them, figure out why Athena's name was on the doctor's notes and what her research had anything to do with the World Tree.

Before he could push himself to open up the box, there was another knock on the door.

"Coming," he called out before answering it. He opened the door and saw another pair of Aegis soldiers standing there.

"Mr. Kyudo, we've been sent by Grendel. He requires your assistance."

"Assistance?" Dante questioned, "with what?"

"We haven't been told the reason."

* * *

><p>Dante followed the two soldiers into the council building to meet with Grendel. There was no real reason that he could think of that would prompt a meeting with the elderly mage.<p>

They stopped at the large, double oak doors and one of the soldiers knocked on it.

The doors slowly opened up on their own and the soldiers allowed Dante in.

"Ah good, you've brought him," Grendel said, lowering his hand when the double doors opened up fully. "You're excused," he said, addressing the two soldiers.

Dante heard the two leave the room. He faced the mage and asked, "why am I here?"

Grendel smiled a little as he waved his hand again, closing the doors behind the archer. "You never got your Aegis tattoo redone, did you Mr. Kyudo?"

"Is that what this is about?"

"You could say that. You know why we made it so that you need to get your tattoo changed, right?"

"It's so that we know who are the deserters and who are still part of the Aegis."

"That is correct." Grendel waved his hand again and the doors opened up behind Dante again. "Ah, glad of you to join us, Ms. Everard."

Dante turned his head and saw Alice walking into the door, looking just as confused as he was as to why she was here.

"You two can relax. You are not in any trouble," Grendel said with a light chortle as he sat back down on his chair.

"Then why are we here? You couldn't have just called both of us in to talk about my Aegis mark," Dante asked, wishing that the mage could just get to the point.

"I'm sending you two out on a quest," answered Grendel. "I was asking about your Aegis mark, Mr. Kyudo, because I believe it will be very beneficial for this task."

Alice looked up at Dante and then back at the white mage. "We don't even have our weapons, sir. The blacksmith said it will take another two weeks before we get them-"

"You will have no use with your weapons, Mr. Everard. This assignment isn't one that you could finish with brute force. Simply put, it's intelligence gathering."

"Intelligence gathering?" Dante asked skeptically. "Isn't this better left to the Reconnaissance then? I thought platoons were no longer given these types of quests."

"That's true, Mr. Kyudo. If we had a choice, we would be sending a Reconnaissance member as well, but no matter who it is, they will not bring success towards this task." Grendel pointed a wrinkly finger at Dante. "You said it yourself, Mr. Kyudo. The old Aegis mark is the sign of a traitor, someone who deserted the Aegis for Krylin. There are few platoon leaders who have left us and I need you to pose as one of them."

"Huh?"

"You and Ms. Everard will go to Kerning City. We understand that it is overrun with the darkness and shady characters. It is one of the last places where anti-Aegis sentiments lie and we need you to go in and find out who is running the place. We suspect that you will have an easier time getting up to the top if you tell them that you were a former platoon leader. They will think you have a copious amount of important information to give them and will be of great use to them, as opposed to a Reconnaissance member who cannot get that close to the top of the chain."

"Then...all we need to do is make our way to the top and find out who's running things in Kerning City?" Dante asked.

"Hopefully that won't be too large of a task for you two. In addition to that, I believe this will be a good test to see how well you two really work together."

"Eh?" Alice's eyes widened slightly. "We've worked together in the past-"

"That was before you two knew about the Beholder and Beserker spirits inside of you. You never know, those spirits could influence the way you two work now, especially now that you are aware of them inside of you."

Grendel sensed the uneasiness surrounding Alice as he gazed at her impassively. "Ms. Everard, I understand that you are confused about all this, but it's for the best. Athena knew about your potential since the moment you entered the Academy. She knew about Mr. Kyudo's bloodline and its benefit to you as well."

"That's why she paired us up in the first place, right?" Alice asked, clenching her fists loosely.

"Athena knew that once the Five Heroes disappeared after sealing away Xeros, that he would indeed come back again in the future. Turns out that she was right. We have no idea when Xeros will come back to fight us, but we must be ready for it. To be specific, Ms. Everard, you must be ready to fight him."

"Eh? Me?" the warrior asked.

"You, along with Mr. Kyudo's help, are the only one that can match up to Xeros' strength. Athena knew this and that's why she brought you two together."

* * *

><p>"You okay?"<p>

The dry brush and dead dirt underneath her black boots crunched and crumbled with each step. She kept her eyes down on the ground, not really focusing on anything in particular.

"Hey."

Alice bumped into Dante when he stopped walking. She looked up at him and she had a rather listless look in her eyes. "O-Oh...sorry...Dante, I-"

"You can't get distracted right now. Grendel gave us a task, remember?" He placed his hand on top of her head, which was covered in a brown, newsboy cap.

"Sorry," Alice mumbled, lowering her head. "I just..."

"I know," Dante answered for her.

"Eh?"

Dante looked down at her and muttered, "I know what Grendel said was hard to stomach, but we just have to do it, right? There's no choice."

Sadly, Alice gave him a quick nod. "Sorry...I'll focus on the quest now." It wasn't quite the answer that she was hoping for, but she knew that Dante was just stating the blunt truth. There was no way for her to back out of this when there was so much at stake.

"Good. We're near the city, so be on your guard." Dante brought his hand down to the back of her neck and leaned down to give her a quick kiss. He pulled away and smiled, "last one until we finish this quest, okay?"

"Huh?"

"From now on, you need to be my martyr...but as _Alex_, not Alice."

Alice looked down at her attire: long brown pants, black work boots that came up to her knees, and a plain old white shirt along with a brown leather jacket over her shoulders. Her long cyan hair was tied up and hidden away underneath her newsboy cap.

"I don't really think they'll buy this..." Alice said, looking up at Dante skeptically. "Why couldn't I just stay a girl?"

"Kerning City's a dangerous place now, as if it weren't in the past. You'll attract a lot of unwanted attention, especially where we're going."

Alice raised an eyebrow at him, not quite sure what he was talking about, but she decided on staying quiet. She was sure she would find out his reasoning soon.

After only a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at the outskirts of the city. It was dirty, even with paved roads and buildings more cold and sleek compared to the bouncy mushroom houses in Henesys.

The air smelled smokey and rotten as they walked through the streets. Alice saw dozens of people lining the streets, simply lying around or huddled together in a dark alleyway. They eyed them, but Alice kept her head down, trying not to make eye contact with them.

"Dante? Where are we going?"

"We need to get to the main city first. Just keep close."

Dante reached back and took her hand, pulling her along.

The pair reached the main part of Kerning City after walking through the slums. Although it was slightly cleaner than the slums, the main city was still dirty...at least compared to Henesys or Orbis.

Dante dragged Alice to what looked like a small pub. They stood near the entrance of the unkept building.

"How are we going to find out who's running things in Kerning City?" Alice asked, whispering so that no one else could hear her.

"The last time we came here, Kerning City was under Krylin's control, but not completely." Dante looked around at the small crowds of people in front of the pub and out on the streets. "A lot of these people here are probably some of Krylin's soldiers that have nowhere else to go after she died. Although this place isn't all that well off, there has to be someone at the top pulling the strings. Seeing as how the city hasn't collapsed yet, it looks like someone's keeping it all together."

Dante pulled up the collar of his beat-up, dark brown leather jacket close to his face and pulled on Alice's hand. "Come on, we need to get inside."

"Here?"

"These places are the best to get information on the street."

"A pub? I don't think drunk people are exactly the best source for information."

Dante didn't say anything as he led her in.

Alice curiously looked around. For a pub, it was quite clean and it wasn't that loud. She looked around, but quickly turned away in embarrassment when she saw a rather scantily dressed woman giggling as she entertained a man with what appeared like lewd acts.

She finally realized that this wasn't a pub. It was a brothel.

"Act natural," Dante whispered under his breath, sensing Alice tense up.

He let go of her hand and went up to the front counter, where a rather burly, middle-aged man sat there.

"You looking for anyone in particular?" he immediately asked Dante as the archer walked up to him.

Dante didn't say anything, but instead fished out a pouch of mesos from his bag on his waist. He deposited the bag on the counter, where it made a dull thump from the weight. "Anyone that fits that price," he said.

"Hm." The man dumped out the mesos over the counter and eyed Alice, who was standing off to the side of Dante. "You taking that boy with you too? We charge double for additional people."

"No, my friend doesn't like this kind of stuff. He's still a little kid," Dante replied in a sneering chuckle. "He'll just be in the hallway until I'm done."

The man let out a little grunt. "I'll find out if he decides to join in too and make you pay up." He picked up a little bell and called out, "Shira!"

A young woman from one corner of the spacious lobby got up from her seat and walked up to them. She had beautiful silver hair that had a certain shiny lustre to it and the ends of it brushed up against her waist with each seductive sway of her hips. Her eyes were a light gray that seemed to also shimmer as she approach them.

"Is this my client for tonight?" she asked, never breaking eye contact with Dante.

"His friend will be staying outside. If he comes in, you tell me, you hear?"

"Of course," Shira replied, smiling as she led the way towards the private rooms.

Alice could tell that there was something different about her than the other woman in the brothel. She had a certain commanding aura around her and it seemed like she was the one in control of things here rather than the man at the front counter.

After being led up several flights of short stairs, they stopped in front of a room.

Alice took this as her cue to break herself away from them. She stepped aside and lowered her head, avoided Shira's gaze, who looked at her rather suspiciously.

"He'll stay outside, don't worry," Dante said with a smile as he took hold of Shira's hand.

He shot one last glance at Alice as he led Shira into the room. Before he closed the door, his eyes met with Alice's, silently reminding her of their plan.

Alice lowered her head again when she heard the door close. Slowly she started to count inside of her head.

_"1...2...3..."_

She closed her eyes and slid down the length of the wall until she was sitting.

_"4...5...6..."_

_"Don't forget. The count is until 60." _

She could hear Dante's voice in her head.

_"20...21...22..."_

Alice couldn't hear anything from inside the room. She didn't know if she was to take it as a bad sign or a good sign.

_"45...46...47..."_

She reached around behind her and pulled out Dante's small hunting knife from underneath her brown jacket. Slowly, she stood back up on her feet.

_"57...58...59..." _

* * *

><p>Dante made sure not to do things too fast. He had make everything seem natural. He led her to the bed and gently let her fall upon the white bed sheets. He pinned her down and saw her laughing.<p>

"Am I doing something wrong?" he asked her, smiling in amusement.

"Of course not, but if you were a repeat customer you should know that I like to do things my way," Shira replied, flipping over their positions so that she was on top of Dante. "That's much better," she cooed out, cradling his face. "You're one of the few customers that I'll actually enjoy." She giggled as she began stripping him of his clothes.

When she tried to lean down to kiss him, Dante turned his head away slightly, but not too suddenly.

She looked at him slightly confused and tilted her head to the side, but all he did was smirk.

"That's something for later," he whispered.

"Hm, teasing aren't we?" She complied with him and instead ran her hands through his hair. As she ran her hands underneath his shirt, she pulled it down slowly off of his shoulders and saw the Aegis insignia on his chest.

"So, you're a traitor?" she asked.

"That's not a problem, is it?" he asked, grabbing her shoulders and leaning up to kiss her neck.

"Of course not," Shira responded, gently tracing a path down from his neck to his spine. "And that boy with you...he's-?"

"My martyr. We both left the Aegis."

Dante narrowed his eyes and picked up his breaths, panting heavily as she rubbed circles into his chest. He tangled himself with her, kissing and biting at her shoulder. His red eyes rested on the door behind her and he saw the doorknob twisting open slowly.

_"Perfect timing." _

He saw Alice slowly open up the door and enter the room.

Dante let out a low growl and ran his hands fervently over the woman's exposed back, attempting to distract Shira from the sounds of Alice's light footsteps.

"Oh? Getting more rough, are we?" she asked, giggling as he let out a series of moans. "But-" Shira pulled away slightly from him and brushed away his black bangs, "you'd be foolish to think this set-up can work on me."

Just as Alice drew the hunting knife, Shira swiftly turned around and kicked the knife right out of Alice's hand.

The knife went airborne and Shira caught it. It all seemed to happen in a blink of an eye. No sooner did she shove Alice to the ground and have her straddled across the waist.

Alice let out a soft cry when she hit the ground hard. Her cap fell off, releasing her long blue hair.

"A woman?" Shira gasped in surprise, holding the hand that held the knife up.

Dante grabbed her wrist, preventing her from stabbing Alice. "We're not here to hurt you. We only want information." He reached into his pocket and fished out another bag of mesos. He threw it out on the ground beside Alice, letting the coins fall out.

"It's yours if you only cooperate with us," he whispered, taking the knife out of Shira's hand.

* * *

><p>"I suspected something was off about you," she said, pointing to Alice, who had fixed herself up again and was sitting on the edge of the bed. Shira smiled and crossed her slim legs over one another as she leaned back against the wooden chair in the room. "I've spent too much time with the other girls here. I know a woman's aura when I see it."<p>

Alice lowered her head, blushing slightly at what she thought was a compliment.

"So, this bag of mesos just so I could keep my mouth shut?" she asked as she tossed the bag up and down in his hands.

"Yes," Dante replied, "that and information."

"About what? This isn't exactly the "go-to" place for information."

"Yes, but you are. You come into contact with a lot of men that are in high positions here, since you are one of the more higher priced escorts."

Shira let out a soft 'hm' and crossed her arms over her chest, her ample chest nearly spilling out from her skimpy top. "You know your stuff. I don't suppose you'll tell me why you need information like that?"

When she saw that Dante was not answering, she closed her eyes. "Figured. Alright then, I'll tell you," she held up the small bag of mesos in her hand, "only for what you paid though."

Dante raised an eyebrow, but Shira quickly answered with, "it'll be enough, trust me. You two seem like good people, but I can't risk sticking my neck out that much, especially during these unstable times."

Complying with her reasoning, Dante went back to rest in the chair as Shira began to tell them what she knew.

"There's this one guy that comes here frequently, always asking for me and a few of the other high priced escorts. He's one of our biggest spenders. It might be a good place to start looking. I doubt he's the one running Kerning City right now, but he sure holds a decent amount of power."

"Can you give a name?"

Shira simply shook her head, not giving a verbal answer. "Sorry."

"I-It's okay," Alice piped up, giving the older woman a little smile.

The silver haired woman returned Alice's warm smile and continued, "I'm sure you couldn't see it with the dirty air, but on the outskirts of Kerning City there's a pretty sizable mansion from what I've heard. He lives there."

Before Dante could open his mouth to speak, Shira spoke up once more.

"You can forget about sneaking in though. It's armed to the brim with his own personal guards, a lot of them being deserters from the Aegis after you guys left three years ago. I'm sure you two would fit in nicely though, but I'm _not_ sure about him hiring the two of you. He doesn't take kindly to new blood."

Dante looked at Alice and she at him. "All the more reason to get in there. It's obvious he has some secrets he wants kept away from prying eyes."

* * *

><p>Alice already missed seeing a clear sky above her, even though it had only been a day since she and Dante left Henesys for their quest.<p>

"I'm sure this guy will only find interest in me."

"How do you know? Shira said that we'd both fit in-"

"No," Dante abruptly said. His red eyes flickered up to her in the darkness of the forest. "I won't risk that." He motioned for her to come closer and he led her to the edge of the brush, pointing over to the manor's front gates.

He whispered lowly, "look. There's dozens of guards out front and none of them are female."

"That just means that they're inside!" Alice exclaimed, trying to poke holes in Dante's plan.

"You're too naive, idiot. Just do as I say," Dante said, moving back to their small knapsack filled with the basic items they took for their quest. "Just stay here and be quiet." He picked up the bag and handed it to Alice. "And _don't_ get caught."

Alice sourly glared up at him, still annoyed that he would not let her go with him. "Fine," she sharply whispered back, snatching the bag from his hands.

"If I don't come back soon, then go back." Dante handed her a Henesys teleport scroll.

Alice stared down at it with wide eyes, then looked up to face him. "I'm not leaving you here!"

"You won't be. Just get back to Henesys and alert Grendel. Even if I get found out, this guy won't kill me. He knows I'm a former platoon leader with valuable information."

"But-!"

"Just do I say Alice...please," Dante said one last time before getting ready to leave.

Alice bit back her tongue. He sounded restless, but tired from reiterating everything to her. She half-heartedly dropped her gaze and nodded. "I got it."

* * *

><p>"Who goes there!?"<p>

Dante did not flinch as he approached the guards dressed in a clean cut butler-like attire. He kept his gaze steady, noticing some of them were drawing daggers out from underneath their black sleeves. He had no doubt many of the guards were bandits or assassins.

"I want to meet with whoever's in charge," Dante bluntly stated.

One guard stepped up to the archer and inspected his face with suspicion. "I've never seen you before," he replied, raising a dark blond eyebrow. "We don't let anyone in at this time of night, especially those that are not familiar."

"I want to be a guard."

"Such a bold claim you're making. Master doesn't hire random people off the streets to be a part of his security."

When Dante didn't move from his spot, the blond assassin he had been talking to, threw a nasty glare at him and drew a single steely from the sleeve of his coat. He immediately held it against the archer's neck threateningly.

"Go. Or else."

Dante felt him slide the sharp knife slightly against his skin, creating a paper thin cut, drawing a small amount of blood. Before he could do anything else, he reached up and held the assassin's wrist in a vicegrip.

"I'm not leaving until I see whoever's in charge here."

The assassin grit his teeth and clenched his other hand into a tight fist. He brought it back and tried to hit Dante, but the archer was faster than him.

Dante held onto the assassin's wrist and swung him aside, throwing him down on the ground. He immediately noticed that the other guards went into action, trying to help their fallen comrade.

"You bastard!"

Dante disabled some of them with hand-to-hand combat, but he was too slow to keep up with that many assassins and bandits.

After disabling a third guard, he felt a sharp punch across his face. He staggered back, but couldn't recover fast enough to prepare himself for another blow to his stomach.

Dante gagged as he fell to his knees, holding his stomach. When he tried to catch his breath, he felt a sharp dagger tip against the back of his neck.

"We'll ask you again. Who are you?" the bandit standing behind him coolly asked.

Dante narrowed his red eyes and panted, clenching his teeth. Not moving his head, Dante replied, "I'm a former platoon leader for the Aegis."

"Oh? So you're a dirty Aegis rat, huh?"

The archer grunted in pain when the bandit behind him, took a fistful of his raven black hair and yanked his head back, exposing his neck. Dante tried to keep his breathing even as he felt the sharp, cool edge of the bandit's dagger up against his neck.

"Tell me why I shouldn't just kill you now. You were quite foolish to come wandering into Kerning City, where anti-Aegis sentiments are high."

Back in the safety of the brush cover, Alice watched the scene in front of her and she tightly gripped the hilt of Dante's hunting knife. "Dante..." she whispered worried, wondering if she should jump into action or not. There were still a lot of thief guards still left, badly outnumbering her and Dante, but she had to do something...right?

Just as she made the decision to go help Dante, her attention was diverted towards the front gates of the manor.

The iron gates groaned loudly as they opened up slowly.

"My, my...what is all this noise out here?"

"M-Master!"

Dante fell onto his hands when the bandit behind him suddenly released his hair and stood up straight, standing at attention. "Master...?" he whispered, raising his head a little and finding it a bit shocking when he saw a young woman standing before the guards.

She smiled a little and then whipped out her soft white fan. As she fanned herself lightly, she sauntered over to Dante and stood in front of him. "Are you the one that caused all this?"

When Dante didn't answer her, she narrowed her minty green eyes and collapsed her fan sharply. "Take him in. I heard him say that he was a former platoon leader. I'm sure that information can be valuable to us."

Alice watched as the guards roughly grabbed Dante by the arms and led him into the manor. She gripped his hunting knife tightly and plunged it into the ground beside her as the manor gates closed behind them. Although she knew that Dante could take care of himself, she had a feeling that things weren't going to pan out that well.

"Dante...be careful."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Okay! So I've decided to write this quest first before going into the whole World Tree thing again. Apologies to those that wanted to know more about Meg/Athena/Aegis records/etc. I promise you that will all be revealed in future chapters. _

_I also did not forget about Xeros. Of course not. He is the main antagonist afterall. This "arc" may seem like a tangent from the main story. In a way, it kind of is a little bit of a breather if you will, but I assure you it will show its relevance to the main plot. I don't plan to drag this quest on for a long time, so maybe I'll end it in 2 more chapters? _

_Anyways some general answers that have been mentioned in the reviews you guys left! _

_No, Alec isn't dead. And I didn't add him to the character list because he will not be a regular, recurring character. He MAY have an appearance towards the end of Fragments, but not saying anything other than that. _

_No, Saya and Kaito are not Froid's daughter and son. I think I put too many family relations stuff when I made Xin, Alice and Dante's half-brother. (Which will also be explained in the future chapters since Alec does seem very devoted to loving only Cecelia_ _and since Xin is an artificial human.) _

_And finally, yes. You guys will see more of Xin x Mytsu and definitely more Cedric x Ada. _

_Thanks for reading! Please leave a review! I really appreciate your guy's support!_


	35. Berserker's Contract

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 35 - Beserker's Contract**

This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

Another sound, another harsh blow, another dull thud...

"Do you feel like cooperating now?"

"Stop! I don't even know her!"

The woman narrowed her eyes at Dante, who was restrained and on the floor on his knees. She coolly fanned herself and remarked, "I can see through your lies. There is no way that you would care this much about someone you claim you don't even know."

Dante felt his breath hitch in his throat when he saw the man in front of Alice punch her across the face again.

He stared at the back of her head, a million questions running through his head, the main one being: How were they found out this quickly?

"I can tell you two aren't Reconnaissance members. They would never make such a foolish mistake like this." The mysterious woman motioned to the door in the large gallery hall they were in and her bodyguards opened the door.

Dante didn't know who had walked in until he felt a soothing hand over his head, brushing through his head intimately.

"Sorry, handsome."

Dante widened his eyes. "Shira...You-"

"Good thing Master isn't harming your pretty little face," Shira said, smiling as she untangled her fingers in his hair and sauntered over to the woman that everyone seemed to call "Master."

The raven haired man grit his teeth, glaring daggers at the woman. "I told you that I'd cooperate! I said I'm a platoon leader! I have all the information you want to topple the Aegis!"

"Your eyes...tell a different story."

Alice let out a soft whimper when the man injuring her, grabbed a fistful of her cyan hair and dragged her up. He turned her around to face Dante.

Dante nearly broke down, feeling his heart shatter at the sight of Alice's bruised up and bloodied face. "I-" he stammered, his voice breaking.

"Your eyes...show defiance. You may be a platoon leader, but perhaps you still carry that former pride and ego. You are of no use if I cannot control you for my own needs."

The archer made eye contact with Alice, faltering and tripping over his own thoughts when he saw her slowly shake her head, despite her eyes overflowing with tears of pain and her lip, split and bloody. She was still telling him to carry out the quest, despite her current state.

Dante couldn't think straight. He was losing it.

"What will it be?" the woman asked, hiding half of her face behind her white fan.

* * *

><p>What was he supposed to do?<p>

Dante stared at Alice, who was chained up on the wall opposite of him. He desperately wanted to treat her injuries, touch her, and comfort her, but-

He pulled at his own chains and shackles at kept him at his own wall. Frustration edged into his mind, anger...

"Dante...?" he heard Alice's soft voice.

Despite the long heavy shadows in dimly lit cell, Dante saw the faint outline of Alice's face. She had a swollen black eye as well as numerous bruises on her face with blood running down her chin. It was painful for him to look at. Normally it would be him in her situation and her in his, but not this time.

"I'll be okay," she said, trying her best to smile despite her painful bruises.

"Idiot...look at yourself," Dante breathed out harshly, pulling at his chains. "You hardly look okay."

"I'm fine...really..."

His heart ached when he heard her giggle softly.

"You're forgetting that I'm a warrior. I'm trained to take these kinds of injuries better than you. So...don't worry about me."

Dante grit his teeth and bowed his head, shaking it slowly. "I should have hid you better. I should have made you wait inside the room back at the pub."

"That wouldn't have helped, stupid Dante," Alice replied, "Shira betrayed us...even with the money we gave her. She would have turned me in sooner or later. Besides...if I wasn't here, this could be you."

"I've taken interrogations in the past! Remember what Fleischer did to me!?" Dante suddenly shouted, hating the words that were coming out of Alice's mouth. Full of such calm and assurance...something that he desperately lacked in the current time. "Stop being so accepting about this! It was all my fault that this happened to you. I needed to protect you better! I needed to-"

"You needed to do your job," Alice finished.

Dante raised his head and faced her, surprised at what she was saying.

"Don't treat me like a little kid, Dante. Granted...I may act like one from time to time, but...I'm a big girl," said Alice, "I can take care of myself. I can do my job, which is to protect you. I'd much rather want this than it being the other way around. I felt so scared when Fleischer interrogated me, but was inflicting all that pain on you."

He realized something.

"It hurts...it hurts a lot," Alice admitted, "I want to sleep, but I can't because my whole body aches, but I won't give up. I'll take as many blows as it takes...to keep you safe."

He was holding her back again. Dante was a hindrance, while Alice was trying to progress.

Dante dropped his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Alice watched him silently from the other side of the cell.

The feelings inside of him that were causing the hindrance were lingering. They were growing...and they were becoming uncontrollable.

"Maybe our Beholder and Beserker spirits really aren't the reason why we're together."

"..."

"Because right now...I don't like the Dante I see in front of me." Alice's bold statement shot a jolt of shock through Dante's body. "I _hate_ people with no resolve," she whispered under her breath. Alice surprised even herself with her harsh statements, but she had no other choice. She wanted to knock some sense into Dante and she wanted him to find his resolve.

He needed to find his way out.

For the rest of the night, Dante didn't say anything to Alice and she didn't say anything to him.

There was nothing needed to be said other than what had already been said.

* * *

><p>"Are you seriously going to come in our cell everyday, old man?"<p>

Froid smiled gently as he looked down at both Saya and Kaito, who had been released from their chains on his request. "Glad to see that you two are doing okay."

"Hey, listen old man," Saya spat out, standing up to meet him. "If you really care about us, how about letting us leave?"

"I can't do that. Only the council can choose to release prisoners, not me. And at this current time, the council sees you unfit to be released."

Saya clenched her fists and angrily sat back down, huffing under her breath. She resorted to keeping quiet and brushing her fingers through her long red pigtails. "At least while we were with Krylin, she gave us showers..."

"Those are privileges."

"Don't talk to me like I'm some damn kid, old man," Saya scoffed, scooting closer to her brother and further away from Froid. She cuddled up against Kaito and he put his arm around her shoulders.

Froid watched them and finally remarked, "you two are very close siblings, aren't you?"

"-In case you haven't noticed since our last battle."

"I did. I think it's good that you two are close. There's no one else you can really depend on than your own blood."

"That's right," Saya muttered, taking Kaito's hand in hers. She laced her fingers in with his and gently squeezed. "We've always been there for each other. Now and 15 years ago...forever."

"15 years ago?"

When Saya fell silent, Kaito spoke up.

"15 years ago...we used to live in Perion. Back then the city was flourishing and rich with trade and people from what I remember. It was nice living there with our parents...but-"

Froid furrowed his brow, remembering that it was about 15 years ago that the last people of Perion had to be evacuated towards Ellinia and Henesys.

"-we were evacuated, but it was too late. We were one of the last to be evacuated and Krylin's army was right on our tail."

"But how did you-?"

Saya whispered this time, grimly, "the only reason we were able to get away was because the soldiers were too busy killing our parents."

"Then why would you two side with Krylin?"

"We had no choice. She was the only one that seemed to genuinely care for us and teach us how to defend ourselves. Once we ran away, it wasn't long before we realized that no one was willing to genuinely help us. They either tried to exploit us or turned their backs on us." Finally, Kaito asked softly, "you're planning to do the same thing, aren't you, Mr. Hermes?"

Froid lowered his blue eyes and adjusted his frameless glasses higher up on his nose bridge. He let out a soft chuckle and closed his eyes. "You could say that. I'm hoping to get you two to change your minds and perhaps join the Aegis."

As Froid stood up, Saya angrily shouted at him, "you damn, old man-!"

But the ice mage quickly intervened, cutting into her words.

"-But just know that Krylin also exploited you. So don't con yourselves into believing such lies. We don't live in a world where kindness exists solely on its own," Froid flashed them a little smile, leaving the two siblings alone once more to think.

* * *

><p>Alice held her head down as she gasped for air, trying to overcome the shock her body felt after being doused with ice water.<p>

"Tell me, where did you two come from? Who are you two, really?"

The spearman winced when she felt the woman everyone seemed to refer to as "Master," raise her head by placing her folded up fan underneath her chin. As soon as Alice was staring into the woman's soft pink eyes, she clicked her tongue softly.

"If you would just talk-"

Alice grunted when the woman sharply hit her across the face with her fan.

"-none of this would have happened." The silvery haired woman raised Alice's face up to hers again and whispered, "you know...I despise women. I despise females. We're nothing, but cunning wenches only caring for ourselves. I prefer men. That's why all of my servants are male, why all of my guards are male," she lowered her voice, "also why you're getting all this while your partner is safe in his cell."

"...Good," Alice whispered, smiling as much as her swollen cheeks allowed her to without feeling too much pain.

The woman narrowed her pink eyes dangerously at her and grabbed a fistful of her blue hair and tugged it back, causing Alice to be leaning over the back of her wooden chair painfully.

Alice cried out sharply and grit her teeth as she heard the woman sharply open up her fan.

"You must care about him a lot, don't you?" The woman sharply pulled at Alice's hair once more when the warrior did not answer. "That's it, isn't it? That can be the only reason why you're going to such lengths to defend him."

The cool edge of a blade was felt on her neck and Alice whimpered, her eyes widening. She couldn't quite see what it was from her angle, but she could already feel the sharp sting of the blade drawing blood from her neck just from it touching her skin.

"I don't carry around this fan just for show. I may not look the part, but I am an elite assassin. I run this city now, Lady Cel."

"What...what do you want?" Alice finally asked, frozen in her seat.

"I want to know why you two, former Aegis are acting like you want to overthrow me. Shira told me everything that you two asked her back at the brothel. You two are acting like spies, but you certainly are not skilled like the Aegis Reconnaissance are," Lady Cel stated.

When Alice did not say anything to her, Lady Cel scoffed and backed off of her slightly. She got the attention of two of her servants and made a little motion with her fingers.

"We'll have a little fun now. Let's see which one of you will break first."

The woman backed away and let two other servants grab the chair that Alice was sitting in and turn her around so that she was facing the door.

Alice grew uneasy when she saw Dante being led into the room, still bound with shackles around his wrists.

"Are you still unwilling to talk?" Lady Cel asked of Dante as she walked over to him slowly.

Dante glanced at Alice, faltering when he saw new fresh bruises on her face and on her exposed arms and legs. "I-" He flinched when he felt the woman grab his jaw and make him face her.

"Do not look at her and answer my question, boy."

The archer remembered Alice's words back inside the cell. "I...won't."

Lady Cel stared at him with her green eyes and finally smirked. "I'm getting the feeling...that you two are something more than just friends or platoon leader and martyr."

"What gives you that idea?" Dante questioned.

"You...You had such a strong gaze when I first saw you. Even when you were beaten down by my guards, your eyes still had a strong assurance to them, but now- I don't see it anymore. You lost it completely when you saw her like that, didn't you?" She stepped aside slightly to provide Dante with a view to Alice.

It was true. Dante remember how cool and level-headed he was when they had been captured by Fleischer a long time ago. Nothing Fleischer did affected him to this degree...to whittle down his confidence and reduce to nothing more than a man unable to pull himself together.

His head throbbed from his overflowing emotions. He was tired of feeling useless.

_"Why can't I think straight...?" _he thought to himself as he felt Lady Cel release his jaw from her grip. Dante closed his eyes painfully and sank to the ground.

"Are you finally giving up? If you reveal your true identities and the reasons why you're here seeking me, then I'll let her go."

The archer asked, "...will you keep your word...?"

Alice widened her eyes and exclaimed, "don't-!"

"Of course. The condition though is for you to remain here. You said it yourself earlier. You're a former platoon leader. I really only need you." Lady Cel glanced back at Alice and smiled when she saw how alarmed the girl looked. "Oh? So you two really do know each other...to a great extent. Interesting."

"Now, let's start off with your names. What are they? And don't even try to lie about it."

"...My name is Dante," the archer whispered out.

"And her?"

Dante raised his head to look at Alice, but quickly looked away, suddenly feeling ashamed to look at her.

_"What's wrong with me?" _

He could feel Alice's eyes on him. He could feel the pressure breaking him down.

_"Why am I acting like this? This isn't what I would be doing." _

Lady Cel awaited his answer, but clearly her annoyance was rising. "Well?" she impatiently asked.

Dante raised his head again and this time, he kept his eyes on Alice. His red eyes rested on her wounds, focusing in on them.

_"Alice...That's right. I can't be acting like this. No, not like this. Alice needs me to pull through. She needs me...she needs me...!" _

"What is her name?" Lady Cel enunciated as she glared at Dante, fed up with his lack of words. She sharply unfolded her sharp metal fan. "If you continue to be disobedient then your dear girl will-"

"Don't touch her." Dante glared at the silver haired woman and set his jaw. "Don't you dare," he growled threateningly.

"Hm?" The woman smirked at him, amused at what she was hearing. "You're in no position to threaten me, boy. Need I remind you the position that the both of you are in?"

Dante watched as she walked over to Alice again and carelessly lowered her fan and cut cleanly across the warrior's chest.

Blood spurted out from her wound and hit the ground, much to Dante's shock. He never expected the woman to escalate to such a degree that quickly. He opened his mouth to shout, but nothing came out.

Instead he felt a sharp pain in his chest, one similar to when he healed Alice a while back. Dante nearly fell over in the growing pain, but the servants holding him steady on his feet prevented him from doing so. He panted and felt a cold sweat forming on his brow as he widened red eyes stared at the ground beneath him.

_"What's happening!?" _

"This is what happens to disobedient little boys," Lady Cel said, looking at Dante and believing that he was reacting to what she did to Alice. She smirked, switching her gaze to Alice, who was now weak with the amount of blood she lost. "Seems like this is a checkmate for the two of you. I'm a bit disappointed, I expected more from a former platoon leader-"

When Lady Cel turned around to face Dante again, she noticed him being unresponsive. When he opened her mouth to speak, the whole room was met with an eerie silence.

Alice felt this sensation across her skin, tingling every fiber of her being as she slowly raised her head to look at Dante. Despite how much blood she lost, she surprisingly felt as if there was no more fatigue or pain in her body.

"Dante..." she whispered worriedly, sensing something was off about him.

"Boy, you better answer me if-" Lady Cel grabbed a fistful of Dante's hair to bring his head up, but she drew back in horror when she saw his face. "Wh-What...?"

Alice widened her blue eyes as well, shocked at what she saw.

Half of Dante's face looked as though it was burned severely, the skin looking dry and deep red. All across the disfigured skin, Alice saw sharp black marks originating from his eye, which was blacked out with only his iris a stunning gold color.

Alice immediately recognized that golden eye color from that time when she met the Beserker spirit. What were its intentions for manifesting itself in Dante?

Before anyone could react, Dante released himself from the ropes binding his hands and grabbed Lady Cel by her head.

What happened next was something no one was prepared for.

"Let go-!" Cel cried out, but was cut off when Dante grabbed her fan and cut her cleanly across the neck, severing it partially.

Her blood spurted out onto the ground and onto Dante and he watched impassively as the woman fell to the ground.

Alice watched in horror as the woman lay there, choking and gasping as she was dancing on the line between life and death. Still tied to the chair, Alice drew back her feet, seeing Cel's blood starting to make its way towards her.

"You freak!" one of the guards shouted as he lunged towards Dante from behind.

No sooner did Alice looked at him, did she see the guard fall to the ground, also cut across the neck gruesomely.

Alice trembled at the sight and sat there in complete shock, frozen in place as Dante killed off more and more guards. She knew that Dante was capable of killing. It was what he had to do as a platoon leader after all, but she had never witnessed him killing people so mindlessly, so gruesomely.

Once the last guard fell, the whole room seemed to be drenched in blood.

Alice sat there, staring at the back of Dante's head until she finally saw him turn around to face her.

She let out a soft gasp. It was an involuntary one in response to Dante's appearance.

His dark blue shirt, his bare arms, his face, his hair were all covered in blood. The grotesque disfigurement of his right eye didn't help his appearance either. The yellow eye seemed to pierce through Alice as she sat there, petrified.

When Dante came near, Alice let out a soft, trembling gasp and edged the chair away.

"Are you scared of me?" he finally asked her, leaning in close.

Alice trembled as she warily glanced down at Cel's fan that Dante held, slippery with blood.

"I won't hurt you. You should know that. The Berserker would never hurt the Beholder."

It unnerved Alice on how calm Dante sounded as he spoke to her. No, the _Berserker_ spirit.

"Where's...Dante?" Alice asked hesitantly as she felt him releasing her from her binds.

"Dante?" He untied the knot holding her hands together and let the rope fall to the ground. "Dante," he repeated, "I saw him unfit to deal with this situation."

Alice furrowed her brow in confusion as she saw him walk in front of her. He held out his hand to her in a gentle gesture. Sensing her confusion on this matter, the Berserker spirit smiled.

"You'll be safe now, Beholder. Only I can keep you safe."

"Bring Dante back," Alice said in response, drawing away from the man in front of her. She fearfully looked up at him and leaned more into her chair.

"I can't do that, Beholder-"

"Don't call me that!" the blue haired girl shouted, "just-just bring Dante back!"

The Berserker spirit stared at her and finally lowered his voice dangerously. "You don't understand. Dante is incapable of dealing with this situation. I'm in control now. He's been incapable this whole time. Getting killed, making me step in to help with your fight with Krylin, years of being captive in Krylin's hands, being tortured constantly...the list goes on."

"That was my fault! Not Dante's! I shouldn't have left him! I should have protected him better! I let my guard down and-"

"How long do you intend to excuse him? He's pathetic and you know it. He has failed you so many times and brought this all on himself. He chose death by foolishly joining the reserve army."

Alice yelped when he wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her up over his shoulders. "No! Put me down!" she screamed as she tried vainly to get him to release her.

"You're not thinking straight, Beholder. That's all this is."

"I'm not the Beholder!" Alice shouted angrily as she hit his shoulder with her fists.

Despite her physical and verbal attacks, he didn't put her down.

"Please don't move around so much. It's harder for me to get you to safety."

Alice heard the running sound of guards coming towards them. She arched her back and tried to look over her shoulder, but at that instant, she saw the Berserker use Cel's fan to cut them down effortlessly.

"What do you mean 'safety'?" Alice asked in a panic, fearing the answer that she was going to hear.

"You're not thinking straight," he repeated as he sliced down another guard.

"I am!"

"I will awaken your Beholder spirit inside of you. Then...we can be together, you and I."

Alice widened her blue eyes as they reached the main hall. She needed to escape. There was no way that she would allow him to bring out her Beholder spirit, not after what happened when she fought Dante back when she killed Mary.

"Was it you that gave me that armor back in Krylin's castle?"

"Yes," the Berserker answered, smiling. "I only want to protect you. It is my job to protect you."

"It didn't do much."

"That's because your Beholder spirit hadn't fully awakened. However, I can change that. Don't worry, we'll be together soon. Just wait."

"Together?" Alice breathed out, wondering what he meant by that.

"Don't you see, Beholder?"

She heard him open up the front doors of the manor, only to be greeted by another group of Cel's servants. Alice squeezed her eyes shut when she heard more strangled cries, followed by the sound of their bodies falling to the ground.

"I'm the one getting you out of danger, not Dante."

"That doesn't matter! That's-!"

"...It doesn't matter?" the Berserker softly muttered, lowering his eyes. He stopped in front of the manor's large front gates, covered in the blood of Cel's servants. "Of course it matters."

Alice shivered at the sudden change in the Berserker's voice. He sounded dangerous and spiteful.

"Put me down," she ordered him.

"No."

Pursing her lips, Alice inhaled deeply and shouted, "as your Beholder, I'm ordering you to put me down-!" She widened her eyes when he did lower himself and place her back on her own two feet. Did it actually work?

Judging by the deluded look that lingered in the Berserker's eyes, Alice knew that it wasn't the case.

"Oh...Beholder," he tenderly said, raising a hand to her bruised and cut up face. "Look at what they've done to you."

Alice flinched as he ran the palm of his hand over her cheek. "Stop. It hurts-"

"I'll make it stop hurting." He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

Before she could make any move to push him away, Alice felt a cooling sensation on her lips, which slowly spread out over her face. When the Berserker pulled away, Alice raised a hand up to her face and no longer felt the various cuts and aching pains of her bruises.

"See?" The Berserker looked at her lovingly. He wrapped his arms around her form and stroked her hair. "I can heal you more efficiently than Dante could. He hardly has the courage for any of this."

"He does!"

"You still side with him, Beholder," the Berserker said, lowering his eyes sadly. "You don't understand anything. Dante's incapable of letting you unleash your true potential. He said it himself. He's holding you back."

"He-" Alice faltered, knowing that there was some truth to his words. Ever since their fight with Xeros, Dante seemed to be holding back a lot more than he would. All this time she assumed it was because he had grown gentler, but she couldn't deny the certain times when she would catch him staring off into nothingness, with a troubled and distressed look on his face.

"Dante kept a lot of things from you still. He worried himself sick over how he was going to keep you with you. Trust me, he is incapable of making the contract with you. He's incapable of taming you and me. He's _weak_-"

Alice narrowed her blue eyes and stepped up to him. She raised her hand and sharply brought it down on his cheek, slapping him hard across the face.

He remained frozen to the spot, eyes widened in shock and mouth opened in silence.

Finally it was Alice that spoke.

"Don't-" she trembled, her voice shaking in anger, "don't you dare say that about him. If you insult him, you're also insulting me."

"Hm," he chuckled. "Interesting. That was a heartfelt speech, but that won't make me bring Dante back. He's unfit to-"

Alice suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward. Caught off-guard, he stumbled, unable to get his balance. She then brought down her elbow hard onto the base of his skull, effectively knocking him out.

Her arm trembled from the hard impact, but she did her best to ignore it as she pulled out the Henesys teleportation scroll that Dante had given her before he left.

_"I need to get to Grendel..."_ she thought, releasing the scroll from the string that bound it. Alice let the scroll float up to the air and in a brief flash of light, the scroll instantly turned into a portal leading into Henesys.

Using up the remaining strength left in her body, Alice hoisted Dante's unconscious body up, wrapping his arm around her shoulders for support. She glanced over at his face and still saw the markings and disfigured skin around his right eye, indicating that the Berserker was still in control of his body.

_"Hopefully we don't end up too far from the council building,"_ Alice thought to herself as she inhaled deeply, closed her eyes, and stepped into the portal.

The familiar cooling rush of wind and whirring sounds filled her senses, and then came to an abrupt stop.

Alice opened her eyes slowly and found herself to be standing in the dark, behind what she recognized to be the council building. A sigh of relief passed her lips as she smiled, grateful to be back in Henesys.

"Who's there?" she heard a voice.

Alice dropped to the ground, unable to hold Dante's weight any longer. She turned her head over to the sound of the voice and saw Dark Lord coming up to her. "S-Sir! I-"

"Oh it's you two!" he exclaimed as he removed his mask from the bottom half of his face. He noticed the blood on each of their clothes, Dante having a lot more on him than Alice. "What happened?" he asked as he knelt down next to Dante. "For you two to use the emergency Henesys scroll Grendel gave you, you must have a valid reason-"

"I-I'm sorry," Alice stammered out, "we got found out. And Dante-I had to subdue him. The Berserker spirit-"

Dark lifted Dante up slightly and saw the strange markings over the right side of his face. His gray eyes widened and he wasted no time in hoisting the unconscious man up to his feet.

"Come! Let's take him to Grendel!"

* * *

><p>Alice watched worriedly as Grendel held his hand over Dante's head.<p>

"I-I didn't knock him out too hard, right?" she asked.

"No need to worry, Ms. Everard," the elderly wizard replied, smiling kindly at her. "He may awaken soon, which is why we have these restraints on him."

Alice looked down at the leather restraints tied to the metal railings on the bedside that held his arms down. She then looked back up at Dante's face. "Will...will Dante come back?"

Grendel remained silent, fueling the warrior's anxiety even more.

"Will he?" she asked him again.

"I'm unable to answer that right now, Ms. Everard. Judging from what I'm feeling now..." his voice dropped off.

Alice lowered her eyes away from Grendel's softly glowing green healing aura that surrounded his hand. "So...he might not."

"Now, now, don't jump to such wild conclusions just yet. I will personally see to a solution to this matter.

The blue haired girl nodded slightly, still worried over what would become of Dante. "Was it...my fault?" she asked. "Maybe if I had tamed the Berserker spirit sooner..."

"You can't say such a thing when you haven't even drawn up a proper contract with the Berserker."

"...Contract?" Alice questioned.

Grendel sighed softly as he removed his hand from Dante's forehead. "Truthfully, I was a bit hesitant on sending you two out on this quest. Mainly because you have yet to fulfill the contract with the Berserker spirit."

"What is it?"

"It is what really allows you to be able to control both the Berserker and Beholder spirits. It also allows you to use Dante to greatly amplify your dark magic."

Alice grew mentally unnerved at the mention of using Dante for her dark magic. After what happened when she saw him healing her, she promised herself that she would never put Dante in such a situation again. Entering this contract would make her break that promise.

"I-I can't let him do that!" she exclaimed, putting her hands down on the metal railings on the side of Dante's bed. "He was in so much pain when he tried to heal me after I fought Xeros."

"And creating this contract will put an end to that."

"Eh?"

"Dante cannot control his powers on his own. He will never be able to. He needs you and the Beholder spirit to properly control it. By going through with the contract, you will be able to have full control over him and your own dark magic. You will minimize the chance of hurting him, greatly."

"...I will...?" Alice asked, widening her blue eyes as she realized that this contract could be the solution that she was looking for. "How do I make a contract?"

"I will guide you two through tomorrow after you brief me on the details of what happened on your quest tomorrow in the council hall. For now...get some rest, Ms. Everard. The Berserker may have healed you, but the contract ritual will require you to have a clear mind."

The spearman nodded, taking what the elderly wizard said to heart. She was more than determined to make this ritual successful. If it meant that she could hurt Dante less and if it meant that she could control the Berserker spirit from ever invading Dante's body, then she was willing to do anything.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_So! Are you guys in the middle of finals? I am /sad _

_BUT! I will be done by this Thursday! So, you know what that means~_

I will update with the next chapter this Saturday if I can get a lot of reviews! If not, then I'll update two weeks from now ~ Before anyone decides to mention it, no, I'm not holding chapters hostage for reviews. I truthfully do not have future chapters typed out at all once I finish a chapter. I only have the outline of the story in my head. So, more reviews just means that I'll be more motivated to finish typing up a chapter so, it'll be physically readable haha. If not, then I'll just work on the next chapter whenever I feel like it. I do have a lot of other things to do in my spare time (working on drawing commissions/working on my cosplays). One of which I do for a source of income. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy writing this, but if it's matters concerning real money, then I'm going to have to go with that instead of working on something that I'm pretty much doing for free. I need spending money, yo.

_So yeah...I know a few people are still actively reviewing this and I do see the number of hits each chapter gets, but reviews are the most accurate counting measure I have for how many people are actually keeping up with this story. _

_Again, don't get me wrong. I will still update this, but slowly if not a lot of people seem interested in this story anymore. _

_I do have a third part planned out for after Fragments ends. The third part will be the absolute, last part to this "Aegis series" lol. I'm still planning things out for that series, but it'll shed a lot more light onto the World Tree and the Berserker/Beholder. ~ _

_So I'm planning for all the future chapters to be around 5000 words. I feel like it's too cluttered with too many new events for you guys to digest if I do something at 8000 words. Feel free to leave a comment if you like longer chapters/shorter chapters. :) _

_That being said, please review ~ _


	36. Berserker's Challenge

**Character List: **

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 36 - Berserker's Challenge**

"Are you hesitating, Ms. Everard?"

Alice followed Grendel down into the basement of the council building. She lowered her head slightly and muttered, "I feel a little bit uneasy, but I stand by what I said to you last night, sir. I just want Dante to be well."

When they arrived at a single door at the end of the flight of stairs, Grendel placed his hand on the rusty doorknob and paused. "Ms. Everard," he stated, "I must warn you. Making this contract will not be easy, on you or on Mr. Kyudo. Athena was aware of you two and how well you cooperated. Not that I doubted her for one second, but I needed to see for myself just how powerful your partnership was."

"Sir?"

Grendel smiled back at her. "While Dante was the best choice for the work in Kerning City, I also sent you so I can observe your teamwork myself. I never expected such an outcome like what happened...but in the end, you brought him back by any means necessary. That's what I was looking for."

"Then...this teamwork-?"

"...There are certain repercussions to making this contract, Ms. Everard. I only told you of the positives that will come out of this...but there are negatives as well."

Alice blinked, confused. "Then...what is it, sir?"

"There's no real telling what will happen initially, but after the contract is completed...you two will need to watch out for each other even more. You see, Ms. Everard...Krylin was not drawn to Mr. Kyudo because she thought he would be easy prey. She was drawn to him because of his bloodline. She may not have known it herself, but subconsciously...she did."

"I-I know...that's probably why Dante and I are also-" Alice trailed off.

Sensing her somber expression, Grendel quickly attempted to comfort her. "Needless to say, we can't be sure of this exactly. Anyways, I'm mentioning all this to you now because you will need to do what Xeros planned to do to Alec Kyudo years ago."

"Huh...?"

"You will need to take Dante's soul."

Alice widened her eyes and drew back a step. "W-Won't he die? That'll be killing him! I can't do that!"

"Please listen to me Ms. Everard. It may sound like that, but I can assure you that, that won't happen. Not with my preparations."

"Preparations?"

Grendel turned back to the door and twisted the rusty doorknob. He opened the steel door and immediately a cold rush of air met Alice as she was led inside the dark underground chamber.

Alice widened her eyes at what she saw before her.

"S-Sir...what is this?" she asked, seeing Dante in the middle of an array of circles and candles. It reminded her of what she saw in her vision when Dante was captured in Krylin's castle.

The archer was still unconscious, the markings on his face still present. He was on his knees. His arms were held up out to the sides with multiple chains that were attached to the walls and ceiling. He had more chains that were attached to a single metal collar around his neck that seemed to be holding him upright.

There was a circular array that rested right over his chest, glowing and pulsating softly with a dull red light.

"Ms. Everard, you will need to listen to exactly everything I say. This way we can ensure the safety of Mr. Kyudo and yourself."

"But- you said I will need to take his soul-"

"He will not die. I've made it so that my magic will not allow this. You _will_ be taking his soul, but in turn...he will be taking yours as well."

"...Eh?"

"If you force a contract with Mr. Kyudo, like Xeros tried to do with Alec Kyudo, then he will die. But this mutual contract will allow him to live, do you understand, Ms. Everard?"

Alice glanced up at Dante and then back down at the ground. "I-I...suppose." She suddenly felt scared. There were so many things that could go wrong with this. What if it didn't end up curing Dante? What if she only managed to take his soul, but he never took hers?

Grendel sensed the young female's distress and placed his hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"If you do not do this...there is a possibility that Xeros could come looking for Dante in the future. Where he'll then forcibly make this contract. If you go through with this now, Xeros cannot touch Dante at all."

The spearman closed her eyes. "Dante will be safe?"

"Yes."

Alice reopened her eyes and slowly walked closer to Dante. "...Please tell me what to do, sir."

Guided by the wizard, Alice stepped into the circular array surrounding Dante and stood before the archer. She looked down at him, throwing away all of her fears.

_"I need to do this, for Dante and me." _

"Now then, Ms. Everard...please put your hand in the array on his chest. You'll be able to reach in and grab his soul."

Alice inched her hand closer to the circle array on Dante's chest and inhaled sharply as she plunged in. She trembled when she saw her whole hand inside of Dante's chest. "M-Mister Grendel...! I can't feel anything!" she said in a panic, just feeling nothing, but air as she grasped nothing.

Dante, still unconscious, arched his back, raising his body up to her as Alice struggled to find his soul.

Panic grew within Alice as she felt nothing. "I can't feel anything-!" Suddenly, the warrior widened her eyes in shock. She did not feel anything in Dante's chest, but rather, her own.

A sharp pain that slowly diminished into a feather soft bliss.

Grendel watched as Alice collapsed on Dante's shoulder, her hand still embedded in his chest. Knowing that this would happen all along, Grendel remained rooted to the spot. "Unfortunately, you will need to bring Dante out yourself, Alice. He is still under the influence of the Berserker spirit. Finding his soul would have been impossible at this stage."

He raised his hand a soft white mist shot out from the palm of his hand. It spread over the circular array, forming a large, protective dome around Alice and Dante.

"Once you make contact with him, you will be able to complete the contract on your own. Good luck..."

* * *

><p>Alice woke up, finding herself in the middle of a field of flowers.<p>

She furrowed her brow in confusion as she sat up. Looking around at the bright scenery, she asked herself, "wasn't I in the council hall basement?" Alice got up to her feet. As soon as she did, she heard the light fluttering sound of wings beat against her ear.

It initially startled her, causing her to draw back, but she relaxed when she saw that it was nothing more than a butterfly.

Its bright red wings with various black markings seemed to paint a pretty picture as it contrasted it sharply with the surrounding brightness.

"What am I supposed to do here?" she muttered, unknowingly following the red butterfly. "I couldn't find Dante's soul..." Alice dropped her head in defeat, wondering if this was the consequence of her failing.

She stopped when she felt the gentle tickle of the butterfly landing on her forehead. Curiously, she raised her head, only to be surprised at who she saw in front of her.

"...Dante?" she whispered, seeing the young man just a few feet away from her, lying on the soft grass.

Only he was not alone.

"Glad to see you, Alice."

Alice flinched when she heard his voice. She recognized the man holding Dante to be the Berserker spirit. They nearly looked like twins, only that the Berserker had the disfigurement on the right side of his face and slightly longer black hair.

He held Dante's head in his lap, gently running his hand through the archer's hair.

"Are you here for him?" he asked.

Alice held her gaze. "Yes," she simply replied.

"Hm," the Berserker ran his hand down the length of the white sleeve of the white coat Dante wore. "Even after what I've told you, you still think he can come through for you?"

"I would rather have it like that than him not being there at all."

The Berserker looked at her through his sharp gold and red eyes. "He might have thought that you were the innocent one...but truth is...you're tainted."

Alice gasped when she caught a glimpse of dark red edging its way across her plain white dress, coloring it. The bright scenery also changed. The flowers wilted and the grass drew back into the cold, listless earth. The skies grew into a dark, dreary gray that glowed ominously of red here and there.

"To hand him over to you...would be tainting him." The Berserker, who's clothes had also turned into a dark shade of red, held Dante, who's clothes were still a pure white.

"I can't speak to him?" Alice asked.

"Why would you?"

"I think...he'd want a say in this matter."

"You don't know what he wants. You didn't know anything about him. He kept all these secrets from you, treated you like dirt in the beginning - just leave him."

"You act like you care about him now...or maybe it's because of something else."

The Berserker stopped his hand on Dante's arm.

"Are you resisting being tamed?"

"..."

"You don't want to be tamed?"

He snapped at her. "Shut up. Dante may be weak, but you're even weaker. I refuse to be tamed by the likes of you."

Alice played with the lacy and trimming on her now dark red dress. She lowered her blue eyes solemnly and muttered, "Grendel won't let you leave or see the light of day again until you let Dante come back."

"He doesn't know a goddamn thing."

A distant wind blew through the landscape, gently rustling Alice's dress and blowing her hair across her face. Alice pursed her lips and gently reached out.

The Berserker widened his eyes when he realized that her hand was on Dante's. "What are you doing!?" he shouted, drawing back, holding Dante in his arms. "You'll taint him!"

Alice smiled when she realized that her black silk glove covered hand remained on Dante's hand and he remained pure as ever. "I may be tainted, but Dante will never be." She squeezed the unconscious archer's hand gently and whispered, "I promised to protect Dante, even from you if necessary."

"Even from me?" the Berserker questioned incredulously, finding what the female warrior was saying was ridiculous.

"How can I prove to you that I'm worthy of the contract?"

He raised an eyebrow skeptically. He saw an unwavering gaze in Alice's eyes, no hesitance and no fear.

"You really think you're ready?" He scoffed. "Hardly. But I suppose if you go and get yourself killed in the process, I can find the Beholder's new host. Hopefully someone stronger than you."

Then in a blink of an eye, the Berserker disappeared.

Alice stared at the place where he once was. "Hey-!"

_"-I'll let you make the contract for now...but if you fail my challenge, I'll break the contract and seal Dante away forever." _

"What challenge!?" Alice shouted. When she heard nothing in response, clenched her teeth and turned her attention back down to Dante, who was still unconscious. What was she supposed to do now that the Berserker disappeared?

Thinking that she had been tricked, Alice closed her eyes and squeezed Dante hand as she gently brought him onto her lap. "I'm sorry Dante," she whispered, running her fingers through his hair as his head rested on her leg.

Alice gazed down at his face, cupping his cheek and rubbing her thumb over his pale skin. He looked as though he was in a peaceful sleep.

"How do I wake you up?" Alice asked, sadly lowering her eyes.

She ran her thumb over his soft lips and leaned down slightly. He looked so enticing...

The winds swirled around her as she trailed her gloved hand slowly down from his chest to his abdomen. Then down to his hand. She laced her fingers with his and kissed him gently.

As soon as she pulled away, Alice saw Dante's eyelids slowly open up.

"Dante...?" she asked, hopefully that the archer was finally awake.

He blinked at her, his red eyes regaining their usual brightness. "Alice," he said, looking slightly confused as to where they were. "Where-?" Before he could finish, Alice squeezed at his hand that she held and smiled.

"Let's go back."

* * *

><p>The first thing she heard was the sound of a violent wind rushing past her ears.<p>

Alice, as if she were in a trance, let out a loud gasp and drew back from Dante. Her hand was still inside of his chest, but she pulled it out, no soul in her hand. Instead she fell to her knees so that she was at eye level with Dante and dropped her head.

She could vaguely see a soft blue orb float out from her own chest through her half-lidded eyes, but her attention was more focused on the voices and images in her head.

_There was a brilliant yellow glowing light. So beautiful..._

_She was raising her hand to touch the soft orbs of light that were raining down on her. Where has she seen them before? This light..._

_Immediately afterwards, she saw darkness engulf the bright surroundings, dissolving the light. From the darkness, a huge black dragon, spewing fire and magma from it's large mouth. _

_"Are you still sure about protecting him now? Figure out where this dragon resides and slay it. If you do it by yourself, then I'll let you tame me fully and acknowledge you as my master." _

Alice saw her soul leave her and another one fly into her chest. She raised her head, snapping out of her trance and saw her soul going into Dante.

As soon as the soft blue orb entered him, he let out a soft inhale, reopening his eyes.

The wind around them ceased and the white magical barrier fell.

"It looks like the contract is complete," Grendel informed them. The old wizard gave a sharp wave of his hand and immediately, all of the chains that bound Dante snapped and broke apart. "I was starting to get worried that you wouldn't be able to do it, Ms. Everard."

Alice smiled a little at him, then turned back to Dante, concerned about his well-being. "You're okay?" she asked, gently cupping his face.

All Dante did was nod, still a little bit shaken up and confused about the ordeal.

She threw her arms around him, holding him tightly. "I'm glad...really." Alice leaned into him and smiled softly when she felt his arms wrap around her waist.

She thought to herself that she could worry about the Berserker's challenge later. For now...she still had Dante back and that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p>"I'm so glad you two are okay!" Ada exclaimed as she ate her dinner. "I didn't think there would be that many dangerous quests left ever since Krylin's death."<p>

Alice smiled at her friend, thanking her silently for her concern. "Things might be a bit unsettled. I promised Grendel that I wouldn't say anything about the quest, but I can say that Kerning City is in the middle of a power struggle."

"Power struggle huh? Sounds rough..." Ada muttered, cupping her chin in thought. She was interrupted when she heard Cedric noisily eating away at his dinner beside her. Ticked off, she sharply jabbed her elbow into his shoulder. "You're such a pig."

Cedric simply flashed her toothy grin, causing Ada to glare at him even harder.

Alice giggled at the two and turned to Dante, who had been silent for the whole dinner. She watched him mindlessly play with the food on his plate with his fork. He had a sullen expression on his face, raising Alice's concern for him.

"...Dante...?" she asked softly, looking up at his downfallen face. "Is everything okay?"

He snapped out of his daze and focused his attention on her. "I-I'm fine," he said, forcing a smile.

Not wanting to put a damper on the mood at the table, Alice just nodded and smiled back, hiding her concern. There was definitely something on his mind. Ever since she made a contract with the Berserker, Dante had been acting more somber than usual. He had not said a significant word to her since they left the council building that evening. Even while he was making dinner, he did not say anything to her, or even Cedric.

It was not long before Dante finished up his meal, leaving a few leftovers and getting up from the table.

"Dante?" Cedric asked, his mouth still full with food.

"I need some air," he muttered, "sorry."

Never mentioning a reason for his sudden leave, Dante left the table and soon left the house, leaving the three of them in silence.

"What happened? Did something happen to him during the quest, Alice?" Ada asked. "He seems...a lot sulkier than usual. "

Alice began to wonder if what she said to him when they were in Lady Cel's dungeon really had an impact on him. "I'm not sure..." She got up from the table. "Sorry I-"

"Don't worry. Go," Ada said, smiling, "this pervert and I can clean up the table afterwards."

Gratefully, Alice nodded and briefly excused herself from the dinner table.

As soon as she stepped out from the house, she was met with a bitterly cold winter breeze. She shivered, holding her bare arms tightly.

_"He couldn't have gone far..." _she thought, looking around the dark streets. In the not too far off distance, she could see the dimly lit field of tents that a majority of the Aegis soldiers were sleeping in until the barracks were finished.

"Dante?" she called out, leaving her house and wandering the streets.

Alice sighed, seeing her breath against the cold air. It was so cold. Where could he have gone off to?

_"And in such a hurry." _She lowered her blue eyes, stopping in the middle of the street. Alice tilted her head back and looked up at the clear night sky, dotted with a few stars here and there. Did she really hurt him that much with what she said?

Alice gently shook her head, determined to find Dante first and sort out her own thoughts afterwards.

She made a few rounds around a block of houses, weaving in and around them, up and down the streets, and checking every little alleyway. But even after all that, she found no signs of Dante anywhere.

The last place to check was Mushroom Park, or at least, what was left of it. Much of the park was destroyed, or rather, in need of heavy repairs. The various fountains the park once had were now in ruins, dusty with misuse and crumbling from whatever else happened to Henesys while it was under Krylin's control.

Alice walked through the broken iron gates that served as an entrance for Mushroom Park and quietly made her way into the park. Luckily for her, a full moon was out that night, nicely illuminating her path even with a lack of lamps.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally spotted Dante sitting by himself on a grassy knoll, staring up into the night sky.

"Dante," she called out for him. She approached him as he turned to look at her.

He did not say anything to her, simply looking back up at the sky.

Alice felt a little bit uneasy at his lack of a response, but she made another attempt to engage him.

"Let's go back okay? It's really cold, isn't it?" she asked, laughing a little.

"You're lucky you can act like nothing happened."

"Huh?" Alice laughed again, reaching down to touch his shoulder. "Dante, you're acting weird. Come on, let's go-" she flinched when he hit her arm away.

"How can you be okay with how things turned out?"

"Dante...if this is about me making the contract with the Berserker spirit without telling you-"

"That's not it. You don't get it," Dante whispered, turning around to glare at her.

Alice pursed her lips in building annoyance. "Of course I "don't get it!" You aren't explaining anything to me right now!"

Dante drew back a little, not expecting her to retaliate. He lowered his red eyes and muttered softly, "never mind. Forget it."

"What's wrong? Seriously," Alice asked, lowering her voice to a softer tone as she took a seat on the grass beside him. "You've been acting weird lately." She turned away and asked, "was it what I said to you back at Cel's manor?"

The black haired man remained silent for a while before speaking up. "I just feel like...I'm unable to catch up to you anymore."

"What...?"

"You kept your cool much better than I did back there. Lately, it's more like you're there to save me and that I'm just a burden to you."

Alice widened her blue eyes at him. So that's what it was.

"...Is that what you really think?" she asked him. Alice chuckled softly and wrapped her arms around him. "I thought you were mad at me," she said as she lay her head against his shoulder.

"Why would I be mad at you, idiot?" Dante grumbled. "Rather...I'm angry with myself-"

"-You think too much," Alice said with a soft giggle. She raised her head to face him and smiled. "You shouldn't be mad at yourself either."

"But-"

"Because you're not a burden to me. I didn't mean what I said back there. I just wanted you to find your way. You were just acting desperate."

Dante glared at her and raised his voice, "it's not like I wanted to-!" He was silenced by a kiss Alice gave him.

As she pulled away, Alice giggled a little and nuzzled his cheek. "You were. But...you came back in the end." She exhaled softly through her nose as a gentle winter breeze blew through the deserted park. "You don't need to worry that much about me, Dante. Like I said...I can take care of myself."

He nodded slowly, feeling foolish for even getting frustrated with himself.

"But that doesn't mean that you're a burden or that I don't need you anymore."

Alice leaned up to kiss him again, holding her hand against his jaw. She relished in the warmth of his mouth, drinking him in. When she felt him kissing her back, Alice leaned in more, gently pushing him back into the grass.

"Sorry," Dante breathed out in apology as they pulled away briefly to catch their breath.

"I still need you Dante." Alice ran her fingers through his hair lovingly, smiling down at him. "I don't think any less of you just because I can take care of myself now. So don't think things like that. It makes me worry about you."

"You're talking to me like I'm a kid," he said, scoffing.

The blue haired girl giggled softly as she rested her chin on his chest. "Really?"

"Really." Dante looked at her in a disgruntled manner when he saw her smiling. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

All Alice did was laugh.

"Idiot..." he muttered, blushing a little at the sound of her innocent laugh. "Don't get used to it," he warned her sternly.

Alice giggled and leaned up slightly to give him a kiss. "Yes, sir," she whispered, gently playing with the soft ends of his black hair. She moved up slightly so that she could meet his eyes. From there, she tangled her fingers in his hair and gave him a rather deep and passionate kiss, one that surprised Dante.

"Where's that coming from?" he asked as she pulled away.

"I didn't say anything back then because it was for the purpose of the quest...but I didn't like how you were in the same room as Shira. Alone," she muttered under her breath, visibly upset about the situation.

Dante stared at her for a while, before moving his hand up to turn her head back towards him. "Are you jealous?"

"Don't tease me." Alice pouted and clenched her fists, clutching at the loose fabric of his light brown shirt.

He chuckled softly at her reaction. "Idiot...I was wondering when you'd bring it up. I thought it was weird from the beginning on how compliant you were to my plan."

"I only agreed because I thought it was the only option we had at the time."

Seeing her sour expression, Dante propped himself up with his elbows and leaned up to meet her. "She tried to kiss me, but I stopped her." He ran his fingers through Alice's hair, untangling some strands, combing through her soft locks.

"Wh-Why...?"

A shiver ran up and down her spine. Alice leaned in closer to him as he ran his hands over her back.

"I touched her like this..." he whispered into the warrior's ear as he sat up slightly, holding her in his lap.

Alice squeaked when he ran his warm hands over her cold, bare arms. A bright blush worked its way over her cheeks as Dante slipped his hand underneath her shirt and gently traced the length of her spine with just his fingertip, gliding over her smooth skin.

"D-Dante," she stammered out, unable to think properly to form coherent words, "we shouldn't-" Alice widened her eyes when he turned her around so that her back was towards him. She felt him cup his hand over her mouth, silencing her.

"She touched me a lot too," Dante breathed into Alice's ear lowly, causing her to tremble. "I let her."

Alice tried to protest, to say something back to him, but all of it came out muffled behind his hand.

He held her tightly around the waist, holding her down on his lap. "If you hadn't come in, I don't know what would have happened. But just know this-"

Dante took his hand off away from her mouth and gently turned her head to face him. Alice closed her eyes the instant she felt him kiss her. She leaned into him as he parted her lips with his tongue.

He heard her soft, barely audible whimpers with each passing second. Holding his gaze, Dante pulled away from the dazed young woman and whispered, "kissing is special. No matter what Shira would have done, I would have never kissed her. I only reserve them for an idiot like you."

Alice blushed heavily, out of embarrassment and out of anger. "I'm not an idiot!" she protested.

Dante laughed softly in response. "You were since the beginning," he kissed her cheek, "and you always will be."

Fed up with him, Alice let out a sharp 'hmph' and turned her head away from him. "Fine, this is the last time I'm ever going to go out of my way to make you feel better."

"Yep."

Alice glared at him and grumbled, "you know...you didn't have to agree so quickly-"

"It's going to be the last time because I promise you that I won't have those kinds of thoughts. Thoughts of me being a burden to you...or feeling useless." Dante took her hand in his and gently tightened his arm around her waist. "I'm sorry," he whispered, leaning his chin down on her shoulder. "I don't know why those kinds of thoughts flooded my mind."

"You're just too eager to please me," Alice said, giggling, squeezing his hand.

Dante raised an eyebrow and chuckled dryly. "I think you're getting ahead of yourself, idiot," he muttered, nuzzling her neck, even though that was the plain truth. He found himself at times trying to appeal to her, to go out of his way to save her, going out of his way to do anything for her actually. Whether or not that was because of his Berserker spirit trying to please the Beholder spirit within Alice, he wouldn't know, but he didn't care too much about it anymore.

The warrior sunk back into his chest, giving into his soft touches again. Her eyelids fluttered open and closed as she felt his hot breath wash over her skin. Sparks of light flashed before her eyes as Dante ran his hands over her stomach.

She let out a soft whimper when his hand grasped at her chest. Alice trembled against him, falling into the depths of passion and becoming seduced by his touch.

"D-Dante...wait..."

The archer didn't seem to hear her, continuing on. He let out a breathy groan into her ear as he pulled her closer to him, touching her intimately.

When Alice felt his hand travel down her stomach and play against the waistband of her dark gray pants, she called out to him louder.

"Dante!"

"What?" he finally groaned out, half out of pent up sexual frustration and half out of just plain frustration.

Alice managed to wiggle free out of his clutches and she distanced herself from where she sat in his lap. She gave him a strong glare and stated clearly, "not here."

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"Not here. It's outside and-"

"Are all girls this picky? Cedric told me girls don't really care-"

"They do!" Alice retorted sharply. "I do at least!" She blushed heavily and shouted, "you took my first kiss without my permission!"

"Are you still hung up over that?" Dante asked, shooting the young woman a look with his eyes that sent a silent message to her suggesting that she was being ridiculous.

"I will be unless I can have control over this situation!"

"Then what-?"

"I didn't have control over my first kiss, so I want control over _this_ first time!"

Dante didn't really understand it, the way that she was being so adamant about it, but he decided that it would be better to just keep quiet and follow what she says. It wasn't like he was going to have fun with Alice protesting and fighting him while he was doing "the deed."

"Fine," he replied, with a tired sigh. "Then where do you want to-?"

There was no missed beat when Alice butted into his sentence.

"On a proper bed!" she said.

Dante couldn't help, but let out a stifled laugh afterwards.

"There's nothing funny about that, stupid Dante!" Alice shouted.

"It's funny when you're being unexpectedly devoted to this task," Dante said, holding down more laughs.

"We-Well...I'm devoted to this because..." Alice lowered her head and mumbled, "don't think I want to do it any less than you do. I just don't want to do it outside. Especially when its cold."

Faced with a statement that he was not expecting from her, Dante drew back and blushed a little, clearing his thread awkwardly. "O-Oh," he stammered out at a loss of words, "I didn't really know...that you wanted to do it that badly."

Alice stared at him and exclaimed, "isn't it obvious!? Stupid." She glared at him for a while, grabbing his attention, then her gaze softened up slightly. "I don't want anyone stealing you away from me." Her hand went to his thigh and she crawled up to him, soon straddling his lap.

"You don't need to worry about that, idiot. It's not like I have that much of an interest in other girls anyways-"

"You might not...but-" Alice pursed her lips in annoyance. "You're so blind!" she suddenly shouted, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Don't you realize how much attention you get from girls when you're out? I notice how they look at you and even when I'm right beside you...sometimes..." her voice softened up, "sometimes it just feels like I don't really belong right there next to you. I feel like I'm not good enough for you."

Dante blinked, taking in what she just told him with skepticism. "Didn't you just lecture me on this?"

"Eh?"

He cupped her chin and looked up at her. "You pretty much told me not to put myself down so much. Look at what you're doing right now."

Coming to a realization, Alice turned away in embarrassment, only to have Dante stop her.

"Looks like the teacher could use some pointers herself," he whispered, smiling. "You have flaws. I saw all of them in the beginning when you became my martyr. Remember, Pancake?"

Alice blushed heavily at the reminder of his first "fond" nickname that he gave her. "I-Is this supposed to make me feel better!?"

Dante chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close. He lovingly nuzzled her neck, taking in her sweet, peachy scent. "In addition, you were, and still are, naive and gullible. Even then...I still ended up coming back to you." Dante looked up at her and smiled gently. "Because I liked how you kept coming back for me even when I pushed you away. So don't ever say that you're not good enough for me, idiot."

Alice felt touched by his words, so much that she did not know what to say in response. She saw him bury his face into her flat stomach and after a long period of silence, she heard his barely audible words muffled.

"...You're more than what I could ask for."

Her heart pounded inside of her chest. Alice felt overwhelmed with joy. A tight feeling rushed up her throat and stayed there as she felt her eyes sting with tears of happiness. "Stupid..." she whispered, hugging his head close. "Stupid," she could only whisper as her voice cracked. Alice never even dreamed that she would be able to hear such sweet words from anybody. Especially from someone as "cold" as Dante. No...he was anything, but to her.

She couldn't even begin to describe how gentle and kind the man in her arms was.

* * *

><p>"Princess Mytsu, perhaps you should take a break. I do not believe this Xin character has any interest in being your personal knight."<p>

The blond princess silently listened to her maid as she glared at the floorboards in her personal room in the Aegis council building. "I'm not giving up," she whispered, clenching her bruised and blistered hands on her knees.

"Princess...I'm beginning to think that this is just for his amusement. If he really does care for you, he would never put your body through such torture. Are you that sure that he must be your personal knight?"

Mytsu nodded adamantly, confidently. "No one else!" she simply shouted. "Only him!"

"Princess-" the maid whispered, wringing the damp hand towel over a small basin of cold water.

"I don't even know why!" Mytsu suddenly shouted, holding her head. Her hands ached to even move as she clenched at her golden locks of hair. "Why!?" she screamed, tears stinging at her eyes. "Please don't ask me why it needs to be him! Because I don't know either!"

The maid stared at the princess of Mu Lung, reduced to tears and frustration, something that she had never seen.

Mytsu raised her head to look at the middle-aged woman. Her gold colored eyes were overflowing with tears, her cheeks were flushed, and her hair a mess. "What am I doing wrong?" she asked to no one in particular. Mytsu cried out and hugged herself, ignoring the pain in her broken hands. "This is the hardest I've worked for, for anything. And still...!"

The maid worriedly sat down on the bed next to the weeping princess and hugged the small girl tightly, letting her cry on her shoulder. "Things will look up soon."

She felt a strange presence just outside the door, but didn't think too much of it when she heard and saw nothing through the small crack.

Unknown to her and the princess, someone was outside the room, listening in to each and every word.

Xin lowered his deep blue eye to the ground as he stood there listening to the conversation. Every passionate word the princess said about him, the way she continued to train by herself in the training grounds every night, the way she wouldn't give up even when he told her he had no intentions of leaving the Aegis to become her knight...

He sighed softly and uncrossed his arms as he got up off the wall.

"You should turn in for the night, princess. I will have one of the high priests come look at your injuries tomorrow first thing in the morning, okay?"

Xin listened as the maid bid the princess a swift goodnight and waited until she came out from the room.

The woman did not seem to jump or even show any signs of being surprised of seeing Xin there right outside the room. It was almost as if she had expected him to be there.

"I am against the idea of you being Princess Mytsu's personal knight," she firmly stated as she shut the door quietly behind her.

"I am as well."

"Please give her a firm answer then! She'll continue with this dangerous behavior until you become her knight! If you give her a definite answer-!"

"I did," Xin stated. "I purposely made her training session hard because I thought she would give up. It surprised me when she didn't."

"Then please call it off! A crown princess shouldn't have her body that bruised and broken!"

"A crown princess...should know how to protect herself."

The maid pursed her thin lips and frowned at him, deepening the soft wrinkles near her mouth. "Is that why you won't tell her to quit?"

Xin lowered his eyes and turned away to leave. "...Please tell Princess Mytsu that I will become her personal knight."

"What...?"

"I don't mind her bratty behavior, but I had no intention on rewarding her for it. I wanted her to struggle to get what she wanted for once. I'll reward her for coming this far. She knows how to protect herself and I'll be happy to be a personal knight for a princess like that."

"But- the princess told me you are in the Aegis Reconnaissance. Are you really going to quit?"

"I already did several weeks ago. I had no choice, but to do so." Xin turned his head to look at the maid. He smiled a little and said, "I probably won't be sent out to many quests with something like this on my face." He pointed to his eyepatch. "The Aegis does not want their Reconnaissance members to have such distinctive injuries or else they can't go undercover effectively."

"So then from the beginning, you knew you have no other choice. What you told the princess was a lie? You were planning to be her personal knight this whole time?"

Xin said nothing more to the maid. He simply smiled and gave a slight bow of his head, whispering a soft 'goodnight' before leaving.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_Sorry for posting this chapter so late! I wanted to post it up last Saturday, but I kept adding stuff to it ;;_

I really wanted to add in the explanation with Meg, how Doctor Everard got involved with the Aegis and why she started on this bioweapon project, and Xin among other things, but I thought it would be too much information at once. So that will be in the next chapter.

_Also...I'm sure you guys can already tell, but probably in the very near future, there will be a M-rated scene between Alice and Dante. Now, I understand a lot of you are not fans of romance. (Although a good number of you are). So to make everyone happy, I will censor it a bit. I will most likely post an "uncensored" version on my Deviantart so that those that like the romance can read that. It'll be smutty, but not like mindless smut. There will be a lot of mushy dialogue and fluff. So, I'll alert you Alice x Dante lovers whenever I get around to posting that on my Deviantart. Just as notice, my Deviantart name is "PrinceKara." It is no longer "x-SystemRestore." Just Google it and my DA page should come up :) You'll probably know it's me because my DA icon is pixel art of Dante haha. _

_Anyways, thank you so much for the reviews! I really enjoyed them and liked seeing those new faces :D_


	37. The Undying Flame

**Character List:**

**Alice Everard **_- 20 years old - Dragon Knight_

**Dante Kyudo **_- 22 years old - Bowmaster_

**Isabelle Alfort **_- 21 years old - Corsair_

**Xin Jian**_ - 21 years old - Hero_

**Cedric Windsor **_- 23 years old - Shadower_

**Mytsu Arai **_- 17 years old - Dawn Warrior_

**Ada Diskenths **_- 20 years old - Hermit_

**Froid Hermes**_- 35 years old - Archmage (Ice/Lightning)_

**Kaito Shinrai **_- 22 years old - Marksman_

**Saya Shinrai **_- 20 years old - Bowmaster_

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis: Fragments<strong>

**Chapter 37 - The Undying Flame**

Alice could hear nothing, but the sound of Dante's soft breathing behind her.

She brought her hands up to his arm, which was draped over her shoulders as he slept. Alice sunk back into her pillow and held his arm close to her, her eyes filling with worry.

Her mind was buzzing with concern over what would happen next. How would she take up the challenge that the Berserker presented to her? How was she even supposed to find the place that was briefly shown to her in a vision during the contract ritual? Not to mention that dragon she saw...

Alice furrowed her brow. There was no denying the fact that she had to take up this challenge and finish it...for Dante's sake.

The warrior turned over slightly in her bed so that she was facing him. Alice looked up at his sleeping expression with her big blue eyes. He looked so peaceful...

Gently, she cupped his cheek and leaned up to kiss him.

That's right. She had no choice. She had to figure out what the Berserker meant, no matter what. She refused to let Dante succumb to the Berserker again.

"...Something on your mind...?"

Alice flinched at the sudden voice, startled, and looked up at Dante, who sleepily opened his eyes, revealing his red irises.

"N-No...Sorry, did I wake you?" she asked, smiling.

"You should know I'm not a very heavy sleeper," he whispered back. Dante wrapped his arms around her thin body and pulled her close to him. "You're stressed."

"How do you know?"

"You lost weight," Dante replied bluntly, squeezing her gently. "And you're not sleeping. You're usually fast asleep by now."

Alice lowered her eyes and mumbled, "I'm fine..."

"Come on, you should know better than to lie to me, idiot," he whispered, tangling his fingers in her blue hair. "You're like an open book."

The young woman gave him a soft glare, before releasing herself from his arms. She let out a forlorn sigh as she picked herself up, sitting upright on the bed. "Sorry," she muttered, lacing up her fingers in her lap. She stared down at them.

Dante stared at the back of her head, which was bowed down in thought. He knew something was on her mind. "Did something happen during the contract?"

Alice remained silent, confirming Dante's suspicion.

"Did the Berserker say something to you?"

Again, no response.

Dante sat up and reached out to grab her shoulder. "Alice-"

"I don't want to make you worry."

His hand rested on her shoulder, but slowly pulled back away at her words. "By not talking to me, you're making me worry even more."

Alice lowered her eyes and turned around slightly to face him. Her face bared an expression of sullen worry as she stared down at the wrinkled bed sheets. "...The Berserker..." she started slowly, "he told me that I needed to go out on my own...and complete the challenge he gave me."

"Did you tell Grendel?"

"...No. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go, to be honest." Alice pursed her lips in thought and clenched at the bed sheets. "I know that the Berserker said completing the challenge he gave me will let him acknowledge me as your Master, but...I'm scared," she finally whispered.

"And you need to go alone?" Dante asked, looking away from her.

"Yes."

Dante remained silent, as did Alice.

"What makes you think the task will be any easier if you do it alone?"

"Dante...-"

"If the Berserker didn't say anything about that-"

"I need to!" Alice suddenly snapped out, starting to get frustrated with Dante. She didn't want him to pry. Quietly, she lowered her head slightly and muttered, "I need to do it myself. If I want to tame the Berserker and Beholder spirits, I need to prove that I'm a worthy enough master."

"I see," he whispered. Dante set his jaw firmly and finally let out a sharp sigh. "I don't know why you're trying to protect me still."

The blue haired girl turned around, opening her mouth to say something, but saw that Dante was done talking for the night.

He got up from the bed and wordlessly slipped on his white shirt that was hanging off the bed post. Alice watched as he quietly left the room, gently shutting the door behind him.

Alice pursed her lips and clasped her hands tightly together. "Sorry," she whispered, furrowing her brow in regret. She knew Dante didn't want to be held back, but she had no other choice.

"I'm still scared of losing you, Dante."

* * *

><p>The floorboards felt icy and creaked with each step of his feet. Dante felt a slight draft as he came into the living room and noticed the nearby window was cracked slightly open. The air flowing in felt exceptionally chilly and he figured that going out for a walk to clear his head was out of the question.<p>

He turned back around to the empty, dark room and narrowed his red eyes.

Frustrated, was the only word that he could use to describe how he felt towards Alice. He didn't understand her at all.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath, through clenched teeth as he took a seat on the nearest couch. Despite what they talked about earlier, he still felt unsatisfied with himself and how things were turning out. It didn't seem like he was of any help to Alice at all.

Dante shut his eyes tightly and rolled his head back, finding it hard to feel at ease. He felt like he needed to do something, but what exactly?

He brought his head back down and let out a soft sigh. Maybe he was thinking too much into it.

A dark figure looming on the kitchen counter caught his eye. It was the box containing Dr. Everard's possessions. Dante got up and walked over to it, remembering that he forgot to inform Alice about the package.

Gently, he touched the box, thinking about the note that had fallen out from it earlier.

"Why was Athena's name...?" he whispered to himself, staring at the box. There had to be a reason why the late archer council member's name was mentioned in Dr. Everard's notes for artificial humans.

Discreetly, Dante peeled off a small corner of the tape that held the box together. He held the section between his fingers for a while, wondering if he was stopping himself out of Alice's privacy or if he wasn't too sure of what he would discover within the box.

He shook his head and gently tugged off the tape, trying not to make too much noise.

Once the box was opened, Dante saw a mess of notes, most of them barely readable in hastily scribbled handwriting. He reached in, clearing away some papers to reveal several leather bound journals, each of them leaking with loose papers.

He grabbed a few papers and attempted to read some of them, only able to make out a few words here and there. It seemed as though all the notes pertained to the doctor's main experiment, artificial humans.

Even if Dante could make out some of the notes, they were hardly understandable. It was really advanced arithmetics and vocabulary consisting of compounds he had never even heard of before, things far out of his intellectual reach despite how sharp his understanding was.

Giving up on several of the notes, Dante looked through the journals and once again found more loose leaf notes on other side experiments. Finally, he managed to come across actual journals, daily records that she kept.

'_Month 9, Day 3, Year 300X  
>The experiments seem to be moving along quite nicely. We have so far created two and they are still in their molecular phase, but each day they are growing in their containers. Stability is low, but I'll find a way to fix it soon. I might have hit another road bump however. Just the other day, a traveler came staggering into the sector. He was lucky I was present near the security gates or else he would have been killed immediately. He begged for me to help him, mumbling and rambling on about some nonsense about how his son was in danger.'<em>

Dante flipped the page and read on, seeming as though he had finally stumbled upon something interesting...

_'Month 9, Day 5, Year 300X  
>The man that we had rescued had finally woken up. It seemed as though his injuries were far more extensive than we thought. He says he's part of the Aegis and his tattoo was proof of that. It's curious on how he managed to get all the way here to the sector from Henesys, which I heard was nearly destroyed by Xeros and his troops. He won't say much, but continues to ask for help with his son. I didn't see him with a child when we rescued him.'<em>

_'Month 9, Day 6, Year 300X  
>He knows what we do here. He knows about the artificial humans I'm creating. He knows too much, but he's begging me to help him. He's telling me that his experiment is what will save his son. I wonder if he really knows what he's dealing with. He's asking me to create a near similar copy of his son. Is he out of his mind? He claims that it will serve its purpose, but-' <em>

The journal entry stopped abruptly there. Dante flipped the page to read on, but found himself hesitating with the dawning of a haunting fact.

"An exact replica..." He began doubting himself, staring down at his hand. There was no way that _he_ was -? He shook his head. Absolutely not.

Swallowing his fear, Dante forced himself to read.

_'Month 9, Day 14, Year 300X  
>Things aren't working out. He thinks that its easy to create a living being from scratch. He keeps pressing me to finish it faster, but there's no way that I can do something like that unless I collect DNA from him.'<em>

_'Month 9, Day 15, Year 300X_  
><em>The clone was unstable for a period of time, but I fixed it. I didn't want to, but I fixed it. I put in my own DNA into it. It stabilized immediately and is showing excellent growth. I'm a bit surprised. I didn't want to immerse myself into this experiment because I did not outfit this subject with the new regeneration system I put in place for my two newest test subjects. It's the first time that I've made something like this with real human DNA. I suppose that in a few short months, this subject will near completion and we will test how stable it will be outside of its container.'<em>

As Dante turned the page, several photos came loose and spilled out on to the floor in front of him. He stared wide eyed at the discovery and picked up the photos that dropped.

His breath hitched in his throat when he saw the photographs.

It certainly _did_ look like him, but- the differences he could see...

"...Xin?" he whispered in complete confusion. There was no doubt about it as Dante continued to flip through the photos. It was him, it was Xin. Him laid out on a cold metal examination table, him inside of a containment unit...

Dante's hand shook slightly as he set the photos back down on the kitchen counter.

Dare he read on?

_'Month 11, Day 2, Year 300X  
><em>_Athena seems pleased with the results of our research. As much as this work is interesting to me, I can't help, but wonder what her intentions are.' _

_'Month 12, Day 3, Year 300x  
>She tells me that she requires an experiment. It must look nothing like her, but contain something that she will provide me. What are her intentions, really? The only reason I could think of is to prevent assassinations or perhaps...something else that she has planned.'<em>

The journal entries seemed to stop there. Dante flipped through the rest of the journal, only to find the pages empty. He set it down and picked up the rest of the leather bound journals in hopes of finding more entries. He was met with disappointment when he saw more experiment notes that he couldn't decipher.

There were photos in between the papers, but they were of no interest to him, only showing various stages of cell growth and the basis of Dr. Everard's research.

However, one single photo fluttered out from the mess of papers and landed on his foot face down.

Dante bent down and picked it up, faltering when he saw the person in the photo.

She wasn't a common face, but he had definitely seen her somewhere. The photo was aged slightly, but he could make out that she had light colored hair, very light eyes, probably blue, petite...-  
>Dante raised an eyebrow, trying to remember where he had seen her before, but before he could come to a solid answer, he heard a noise behind him.<p>

"Alice-" he said, seeing an outline of her form coming out from the darkness of the hallway.

The blue haired girl kept her head turned down, seeming apologetic as she approached him. "Uhm-" she whispered, holding her arm. "S-Sorry...about earlier. I didn't mean what I said- I just-" Alice awkwardly let her voice drop off, unsure of what to say next.

Dante dropped his gaze and set the photo down on the kitchen counter. "Is it really that hard to tell me why you're holding me back?"

"I'm not!" the young woman exclaimed, "I didn't want you to think of it as me holding you back-"

"Then what is it?"

"It's - ..." Alice held a loose fist over her chest and looked away, avoiding his intense red eyes. She remained silent, providing no answer.

Dante figured that talking to her more right now would be a waste of time and stressful for the both of them, so he decided to drop the conversation topic. "Let's just go back to sleep. We need to get up early to pick up our new weapons from the blacksmith anyways."

Alice nodded. She snuck a curious glance to the papers that lay strewn all over the kitchen counter in front of Dante, her eyes landing on the one particular photo with the blond girl.

"Where did you get a picture of Meg?"

"Huh?"

Dante widened his eyes a little, realizing that it was Meg. Of course! He had helped her to the infirmary back when she had fallen over. How could he have forgotten?

"Was it in the box?" Alice asked, eyeing the parcel that was on the counter.

"Uh - no." He lied. "I guess it was in some of Sean's furniture because I found it in the corner somewhere. Must have fell out."

"Oh." She smiled a little, sadly, at the photo and then back at the box.

Dante noticed this and looked back at the box, then back at Alice. "That was your mother's possessions-" before he could speak anymore, Alice cut him off.

"Just throw it away."

"Some of it seems valuable though-"

"I don't want any of it. No matter how valuable they are," Alice replied back in a somber tone. "It's probably all just research notes. If you find a picture of our family, that's the only thing I want..." Her voice lowered to a spiteful whisper, "but I bet you can't even find one in there."

It was true. Dante had been through the whole box, but he couldn't even find one single framed photo of Alice's family or even portraits of her or Sean. They were all research notes and photos of her subjects.

Alice noticed Dante's intrigue with the box and its contents. "I don't want it in the house anymore."

"But like I said, it's pretty valuable stuff-"

"Then give it to the Aegis archives. I don't want it."

Alice left the room after that, obviously upset about the topic of her mother being brought up.

Dante cleaned up the paper mess and put everything away in the box. He picked up the photo of Meg one last time and it was then that everything seemed to click.

"I see..." he whispered, putting the photo into the box as well and closing it. "Meg was an experiment too."

* * *

><p>Things seemed strained between Alice and Dante over the next few days. They only talked when necessary and they slowly began to sleep facing away from each other. Dante even seemed more adamant about finishing a bed frame for himself.<p>

"You okay?" Ada asked Alice, who seemed listless as they ate their lunch in the barracks.

"Eh? Oh...s-sorry. I'm fine," Alice laughed weakly and stirred the murky, watery potato soup.

"You don't look fine...and Dante usually makes a lunch for you." The assassin leaned in a little and asked, "did something happen between you two?"

"...I guess," Alice admitted, dropping her spoon and holding her forehead.

Ada stared at her friend and muttered, "that bad huh?"

"We're barely talking. I told him what the Berserker told me to do and I know he wants to help, but this is something I need to do by myself."

"And he won't understand that?"

Ada cleared away her bangs from her eye and tucked it behind her ear, only to have it fall back in place. "I think you're not telling him the whole story."

"...Well it's-"

"Don't tell me. Tell him." Ada suddenly grinned and leaned in more. "See that?" she pointed out the window and Alice saw several people putting up what looked like bright spring-like decorations on the buildings lining the main street.

"What about it?"

"There's going to a spring festival in a few days. Isn't that perfect? Minna would have probably recommended that you two go there and I'd agree with her. Might help mend that bridge between you two."

Alice furrowed her brow, staring back out the window again and at the decorators nailing down the decorations and signs.

"Couldn't hurt, right? Invite him out. You two could use some fun."

The warrior giggled a little. "You sounded like Cedric just now. Guess you guys are close now? Maybe he's rubbing off on you?"

Ada blushed heavily, but didn't say anything. "Sh-Shut up. Just go to the damn festival with Dante. You two can't keep having this tension between each other forever."

* * *

><p>"I thought it was odd that she reached out to Omega Sector for help, especially for Doctor Everard."<p>

Grendel let out a solemn sigh and closed his eyes. He looked up from his desk and at Dante. "She was a good person though. A good leader," Grendel added in. "I don't know the circumstances of her situation concerning the World Tree, but it must have bothered her greatly for her to go to such lengths to protect herself from her own fate."

He gently patted the box that was beside him, containing the doctor's personal effects.

"So, Miss Everard did not want her mother's possessions?"

"Rather than possessions..." Dante muttered, "they seemed like more research notes. The archives could use them."

"Hm, well we'll figure out how to sort these in later." Grendel set the box down on the floor beside his chair. "We have more pressing matters at hand. I was about to call you in, Mr. Kyudo, had you not brought in these research notes yourself."

Dante raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why is that?" he asked.

Grendel paused for a moment, simply staring at the archer before pursing his lips into a gentle smile. "Athena always thought fondly of you, Mr. Kyudo. Even taking you under her wing and giving you personal training in archery when you were younger."

"Yes, I remember," Dante said with a slight skepticism, unsure of what the elderly wizard was getting at.

"Over the years, you've become quite the proficient archer, haven't you? Even being able to control your mana to perform those difficult fire spells and elven archery magic, despite not being of elven descent." Grendel lightly tapped the desk with his index finger. He seemed to be studying Dante.

"There are plenty of other archers with my skill level, sir," Dante replied back modestly.

"But none with your experience."

Seeing Dante stare back at him with confusion in his eyes, Grendel chuckled softly and stood up from his seat. He produced a glittering gold chain from his robe and pulled out what seemed to be a necklace. "The Aegis emblem..." he started, holding up the necklace so that Dante could see it, "the flame symbol that you and all the platoon leaders have embedded into your skin. We as council members carry it as an emblem. This was Athena's..."

Grendel walked over to the archer and Dante's eyes widened when Grendel handed him the necklace.

"Sir...?"

"I know you enjoy being a platoon leader, but...Henesys and the Aegis needs a leader."

Dante stared down at the gold necklace, still dangling from Grendel's hand. Finally, the archer pulled back and shook his head. "I can't- I'm much too young. All of the platoon leader except for Cedric are older than me. Some of the other platoon leaders seem like better candidates."

"They are," Grendel admitted, pulling back his hand, "but in the long run, I think Henesys can benefit from someone who is young and virtuous taking over. I think Athena would have liked for you to take her place. Henesys remains without a leader and I, along with the other council members, cannot stay here forever if we intend on winning this war. We must take back our own cities."

The young man shook his head and refused the magician's offer. "I don't think I'm the right person for this...sorry."

"You seem sure of this answer," the wizard replied. "I obviously cannot give this responsibility to someone that isn't ready."

Dante watched the old man tuck the necklace away into the sleeve of his long white robes. "Sorry," the archer replied back again, apologetic.

"There are other potential candidates that we are looking at...but...it's a real shame that you cannot fill Athena's position. We do believe that you are the best choice for leading Henesys." Grendel let a little sigh pass by his thin lips. "Don't let your age hold you back, Mr. Kyudo. Age does not equal maturity. You may have a temper, but you are far more capable for this task than you believe yourself to be."

Again, Grendel brought out the small gold chain of the necklace, flashing it to Dante. "Just keep it in your thoughts," he said with a smile; his eyes twinkling a little behind his bushy white eyebrows.

Dante lowered his gaze and nodded, not sure what to make of what happened.

He walked out of the council meeting room and upon stepping out, he shut the large oak doors behind him. Was he supposed to be happy with the council's decision? Of course he felt some sort of a pride knowing that out of all of the other platoon leaders, he was actually being considered for Athena's position, but on the other hand...he felt suffocated.

Running his hand through his inky black hair, Dante left the council building in distress, consumed by his own thoughts and fighting his internal conflict. The more he thought about it, the more it bothered him.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt someone grab his hand.

Immediately, he whipped around, about to tell whoever it was to go away, but he stopped himself when he saw that it was none other than Alice.

His gaze softened, but only by a little bit when he saw the young female warrior standing in front of him.

"What?" he asked, coming out a bit harsher than he wanted it to be.

"Uh," Alice started, her fingers tightly grasping his hand. She was taken aback by his sudden strong tone. "This looks like a bad time. Never mind -"

Dante raised an eyebrow and sighed tiredly. "Don't say 'never mind,' and not let me go. If it's that important then just say it."

The young woman looked up at Dante, seemingly scared to talk to him any further. "I'm sorry," she randomly blurted out, taking Dante off-guard.

"For what?"

"For..." Alice faltered, "you know..." She pursed her lips tightly and asked, her tone sharp, "you know what I'm talking about!"

"No I don't-"

"Yes you do!" she shouted back, drawing some attention from the people that passed by them. Alice noticed this and tried to calm herself down, but found it to be impossible. It was always this way. Whenever Dante was the one pushing her the wrong way, she found it hard to let it go. She clenched her fists tightly, trying her best not to just throw one his way.

Once again, Dante impassively rolled his red eyes. "Quit making a big deal over nothing. It's all in your head-"

"Then why are you acting different towards me?" Alice shot back, causing Dante to bite back his tongue. "You can't keep ignoring me at home and act so coldly and just say I'm the only one making a big deal! Because you are too!"

He saw that she was close to tears and noticed that they were slowly becoming the center of attention in the middle of busy street.

Dante let out a grunt and released himself from her hold. Instead, he wrapped his hand around hers and dragged her away to somewhere more secluded. When they arrived in a narrow back alley behind a small pub, Dante took her into his arms and held her head against his shoulder.

He sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Don't cry, okay? Sorry."

Alice replied, coming out as a mumble as she buried her face into his chest. "That sounded so stiff."

Dante scoffed, brushing his fingers through her hair. "What do you want? Me on one knee with a bouquet of flowers while begging for your forgiveness?"

"That'd be nice."

He scoffed again. "Not happening, ever."

"Or...we can go to the Spring festival together."

Dante pulled away from her, giving her a skeptical look. He saw her look away from him, shyly avoiding his gaze. "Spring festival...?" he asked incredulously.

"It might be a nice way for us to...spend some time together?" Alice blushed a little. "I-I mean if you don't want to go- I know you don't really like these sorts of things, but...we haven't really had a proper date if you come to think about it..."

"Hm," Dante awkwardly cleared his throat, remembering how "well" the last attempt at a date went. "Then...I guess we can go out to this one," he replied, feeling like he should make up for what happened last time.

Alice nodded, suddenly feeling giddy about going to the festival. Maybe Ada was right. This would be a good chance for them to mend their old wounds once and for all.

* * *

><p>The night air was filled with the sounds of merriment and celebrations. Musicians played their songs, harmonizing with each other's upbeat tunes and causing some people to dance in the middle of the streets. For those that chose not to dance, they simply clapped along to the beat of the music.<p>

As for Alice, she stood off towards the entrance of the street where various vendors were selling food.

She languidly kicked a small pebble away from her and quickly bent down to brush off the dust that had gotten on her light tan, riding boots. Constantly, she would look up from the ground and search the crowds, searching for Dante.

With each second, she felt more and more anxious.

"Calm down," she would whisper to herself occasionally, smoothing out the soft fabric of her knee length lacy white dress. She clapped her hands over her pink cheeks and let out a sigh.

Dante had another platoon leader meeting to attend earlier in the day, so Alice agreed to meet him at the festival rather than leave the house together. Although it was how things worked out, it felt like a more "authentic" date to not see each other prior.

It was still a little bit chilly even thought it was getting close to the end of winter. Despite that, the festivities were still going on strong.

Alice smiled as she watched the crowd of dancing people grow larger as more people joined in. She swayed her head from side to side to the beat of the music, careful not to mess up her loosely clipped up hair.

Sucked into the music and the dancing, Alice failed to notice that the person she had been waiting for finally arrived.

"You wanna dance?"

Alice turned her head and felt her breath falter when she saw that it was Dante. She saw him brush back his long black bangs, only to have them fall back over his red eyes. He held the back of his hand against his slowly reddening cheek, trying to hide himself from Alice's stare, but failing to do so.

He wore distressed straight jeans, a white, slightly loose shirt, and a dark navy colored leather jacket. With all that, he wore various other accessories. A few rings on his fingers and a necklace, completing his look and making him look...well, the only word Alice could think of at that moment was "_cool._" To think that he put in a lot of effort into what he wore tonight...

It made Alice secretly wish that she took some time to dress up more as well.

Dante noticed her staring at him without saying anything. Finally he spoke up, "I-I told Cedric that I didn't really need to wear this much stuff, but he insisted. I think it looks weird..."

Alice quickly shook her head. "No! I mean- you look...erm...really good!" she commented awkwardly. "I-I like it a lot..." she added in afterwards in a shy mumble. "I would have taken more time to dress up if I had known you were going to come out like this."

"You already did that for me last time. You don't need to do it again." Dante coughed a little. "You look nice anyways. I'm just overdressed." He looked back out towards the crowd of dancing people, which had since grown more while they were talking. "Were you planning on dancing?"

"Were you?"

Dante turned to her and gave her a look.

Alice simply giggled and took his hand. "Fine, later then."

"No way."

"Please?" she asked, dragging out the last syllable as they finally began walking through the festival.

"No," Dante bluntly replied.

Alice pouted a little in mock disappointment, but smiled immediately afterwards. "Then let's get something to eat? You like the sweet dumplings, right?" she asked, dragging him towards the area with the food vendors.

Dante just nodded, following her willingly. However, before they could get their food, Alice got distracted by a game booth that was off to the side. They had a gaggle of round animal plush dolls as prizes for winning.

He looked at her and then back at the booth. "What? Did you want one?" he asked.

"Eh?" Alice quickly shook her head. "N-No! I just thought they were cute. It looks like a hard game anyways-Wait! Dante!" she called out when she saw him make his way towards the booth without saying a word.

"One dart please," he said, pulling out several mesos and placing them on the counter.

"Of course!" the vendor exclaimed, taking the money and immediately placing one single blue dart in front of him.

"Dante..." Alice whispered, coming up to his side. "You don't have to-"

"Congratulations, sir!"

Alice stood there mouth agape as he was handed a round, husky plush.

"It's not a hard game. Especially for someone that does archery," Dante stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "You probably think it's hard since you have bad accuracy."

"I-I don't! It's just-!" She blushed when she was handed the round doll.

"Just take it. Not like I did it so that I can win something. It's nothing special anyways." Dante looked back at the booth and pointed. "Look. Mostly everyone's winning anyways."

The blue haired girl held the plush doll tightly to her chest and buried her mouth into it's soft fuzz. "Still," she muttered. "...thanks."

Dante saw her soft blush and her blue eyes lowered in embarrassment. He felt his heart skip a beat because of her. "Y-Yeah...well- let's just go get something to eat."

* * *

><p>After they got their food, they found an empty bench to sit on. Alice chowed down on the round dumplings blissfully unaware of her surroundings for a period of time, as did Dante. It wasn't until she raised her head that she realized that the couple sitting across from them was being affectionate, feeding each other and cuddling.<p>

Alice swallowed and bit down on her bottom lip slightly, glancing over at Dante, who didn't seem to notice anything. Should she be a little bit more affectionate? Of course...they _are_ on a date after all - !

"U-Uhm...Dante? Would you like some of my-?" Alice looked down at her plate in dismay and realized that she no longer had anymore dumplings to share.

Dante raised an eyebrow, swallowing his last dumpling. "What? Did you want more or something? I just ate my last one."

"N-No! Never mind!" Alice stammered out, blushing out of pure embarrassment. She cleared her throat as Dante stood up from the bench.

"Here. I'll throw them away."

"Oh, thanks..."

Alice watched as Dante threw the plates away in a mushroom shaped trashcan several feet away. As he made his way back towards her, she saw him being stopped by a couple of girls, giggling and obviously trying to flirt with him.

She pursed her lips, feeling jealousy rear its ugly head, and strode over to them.

"So you're not free?" a girl said, with a little pout forming.

"I have a girlfriend," Dante replied curtly, attempting to move past them. He spotted Alice coming towards them and he motioned towards her to come faster.

"Is that her?" one of the girls asked. Her tone was a bit snide.

Dante didn't say anything as he took Alice's hand and quickly bid farewell to the group of girls. Alice tried to avoid eye contact with them, but she could feel their stares burning holes into her back.

Before she could get out of earshot from them, Alice heard one of the girls' comments.

"He could do so much better."

Alice bit down on her tongue gently, trying to ignore the stinging pain that was brought on by those words. She looked up at Dante and saw that he hadn't reacted or said anything.

"Sorry," he finally said when they were out of the busy area and in a more quiet setting.

"Eh? It's fine! It's not like you could control that or something." Alice tried to smile in an attempt to reassure Dante. "I-I heard there's a fireworks display later tonight! I want to watch that-"

"-Alice."

Dante grabbed her hand and stared down at her, directly into her eyes. His red eyes lowered briefly and he whispered, "I'm not stupid."

"Eh-?"

"So I don't know why you keep trying to hide things from me. Is it because you don't think I can handle it?"

"No! I-"

"You didn't want me to hide things from you, but yet you're doing the same thing right now." Dante tightened his hold around her hand, causing Alice to flinch. "It's damn irritating when I see you smile now because I can't fucking tell if it's real or not."

Alice avoided his gaze, only to have Dante turn her head back up towards him.

"I heard what they said about you."

Alice widened her blue eyes and blushed heavily. She definitely did not want Dante to hear their comments. He would get angry at them or worse...actually agree with them.

"I know you were upset. You squeezed my hand so tightly afterwards."

She let out a whimper in near tears, only to have Dante hold her head in place. It hurt and it felt embarrassing having Dante tell her all of this.

"They're wrong. Just know that. They will always be wrong." Dante placed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes, listening to her cry softly. "See?" he whispered, "the things that hurt you, you keep them bottled up inside. What are you afraid of Alice?"

The young woman trembled, feeling more tears leak out from behind her closed eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm sorry...I-" She sniffled, trying to calm herself down. Alice felt a gentle touch against her ear, tucking back a lock of her cyan colored hair.

"Tell me."

Alice tightened her arms around the husky doll Dante had given her.

"I'm afraid," she cried. "I'm so scared," Alice blurted out in between tears. She gasped and hiccuped for air, causing Dante to pull her in close to let her cry into his shoulder. Her cries were muffled, but he still heard them clearly.

"What are you scared of?" he asked, his voice soft and low. Dante leaned his head in closer to her, hoping that she would say something, but all he got was silence. Deciding that he shouldn't push her any further, Dante released her and whispered, "let's just go home. I don't think either of us are in the mood to see fireworks."

Alice didn't complain or object. She followed him quietly through the streets, neither of them saying a word to each other the whole time.

They passed by the festival area and for a brief moment, Alice caught glimpses of other happy couples, dancing, eating, and just enjoying their time together. Compared to them, she and Dante looked...miserable.

Once they reached the house, Alice stood by, waiting for Dante to open the door.

"I'm scared of losing you."

The archer heard her soft, broken whisper. He turned around to face her, his red eyes widened in surprise. "What...-?" Dante immediately felt her lips on top of his. Startled, Dante caught her by the arms and was fell back onto the door.

When they pulled away, Alice slowly pulled away and looked directly into his eyes. She had a look of sadness on her face, her emotional wreckage being shown without restraint. Teeth clenched tightly, she let her tears fall down her cheeks. Again, she leaned up and kissed him, forcefully, pushing him flush up against the door.

Dante let out a muffled grunt as he pried Alice off of him. "Alice-" He held her back, but as soon as he let go of her, she leaned in again.

"Alice!" he shouted more firmly, holding her by the arms.

The blue haired girl dropped the husky doll, not caring much for it. She looked up at him in confusion, her blue eyes teary and widened.

"Why are you suddenly acting like this?" Dante asked, his voice still loud. "If it's about what those girls said-"

"It's bigger than that!" Alice exclaimed. "Maybe...maybe you can do better! Maybe it's better if you just leave!"

Dante growled in frustration and shouted, "what the hell are you talking about? Alice, if you actually need a reminder of what we discussed a few days ago-!"

"You've been dragged into all of these things because of me! Ever since we first met, all we've been doing is hurting each other. If you hadn't met me then- maybe Krylin wouldn't have infected you and you wouldn't have joined the reserve army and gotten hurt-"

"If I hadn't met you," Dante began, "I would have probably been this miserable, scary guy and then lying to myself about being miserable." He gently kissed her forehead and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "Everything that happened so far...I don't regret them a single bit. Meeting you, hating you, then falling in love with you, and all those other things that happened. Even what Krylin put me through..._us_ through," he fixed. "It made me realize-"

"...?" Alice saw Dante lean in and felt a soft kiss on her lips.

"-how much of an admirable person you are to me."

The young woman felt Dante kiss her again, more deeply than before. She leaned into the kiss, sinking into the warmth of his arms. Alice blushed as he pulled away, feeling nothing, but a gentle fluttering feeling inside of her.

Dante bent down and picked up the husky doll at their feet. He dusted it off with his hands, holding it out to her shortly after. "I wonder when the fireworks are. I kind of want to go see them now-"

He stopped when Alice grabbed at his jacket sleeve.

"The fireworks...I'm pretty sure we can see them from our room. The window overlooks the festival area." Alice's blush intensified slowly with each word, soon making it obvious to Dante as to what she was implying.

Dante lowered his eyes on her and whispered, "okay."

Opening the door behind him, Dante led her in by the hand. Alice's heart thumped loudly inside of her chest as soon as she heard the door close behind her. Her breathing quickened as she turned around, intending to initiate first, only to have Dante catch her in his arms and capture her sweet kiss.

Lips still locked, Dante hoisted her up and carried her to their room.

Alice whimpered as he set her down in front of the bedroom door. Her cheeks were flushed a bright red, as were Dante's. Without a word, she dropped the plush doll, cupped his face and brought him down for another kiss, this one more passionate than their first. She coaxed his lips apart and played with his tongue, thoroughly tasting him.

The young man fumbled with the doorknob behind her, trying to get the door open. He wrapped an arm around her slender waist as soon as he managed to get the door open, helping her to stay on her feet. Still locked in their embrace, Dante somehow managed to get them to the bed and unceremoniously dropped Alice onto the soft sea of sheets.

He looked down at her, his eyes slowly filling with lust, as were hers.

Alice's chest heaved up and down with each panting breath. Her cheeks were a lovely pink rosy color and hair, splayed out on the sheets. "Dante-..." she whispered, reaching up to grab at the collar of his jacket. She gently tugged at the article of clothing, silently demanding that he take it off.

Dante leaned down to kiss her hastily once more and then stand back up to do as she asked.

Her heartbeat seemed as though it was intensifying with each sound of his clothes dropping to the floor. As soon as Dante shed his jacket, he smirked and hooked his finger underneath the wool cardigan that Alice wore.

"Your turn," he said, leaning down to kiss her neck.

She crossed her arms over her chest, in silent protest.

Dante chuckled at her and asked, "then do you want more?"

"...Eh? More?" Alice asked curiously. She promptly blushed when Dante reached back and pulled his shirt up over his head. His black hair fell back over his red eyes messily.

She gasped in surprise when he took her hand and pinned it high above her head. Her fingers laced with his as he leaned down to steal another kiss. Alice let out a soft moan, falling into the bliss of being with him.

"I guess I'll do it myself," Dante responded, a smug smile forming on his face as he released her hand and proceeded to undress her.

"No, wait!" Alice exclaimed, her hands immediately going to his bare shoulders, trying to push him off. She froze when he started to dot little kisses over her collarbone as his hands went to pull off her clothes. "D-Dante..." she whispered, trembling softly. "Stop-"

"-No." He said, blowing puffs of air at her bare skin. Dante looked up at her, his red eyes piercing through. His voice sounded rough and husky. "Even if you ask me to stop, I won't." He leaned his head down against her bare stomach and let out a breathy sigh, sounding almost sullen. His hands caressed her arms, finally running up to meet her own hands. "I guess I'm more oblivious than I'd like to be. I didn't realize how much I've hurt you...unintentionally."

Dante got up and placed either hand beside her head. He stared down at her, directly into her eyes. "I wasn't here after the Aegis fled Victoria Island. I didn't know what you went through, but from what Cedric has told me, I feel like shit."

"Huh?"

"If I valued my life more...I probably wouldn't have joined the reserve army. I wouldn't have gotten killed and I could have been together - with you." Dante reached down and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "Those three years that we lost..." he whispered.

"Didn't you say you have no regrets about anything that happened?" Alice reminded the archer. She flashed him a shy smile. "I don't have any regrets either."

Dante's lips turned into a warm smile, his gaze was just as soft. "Yeah...I guess you're right," he whispered. "Everything that's happened, led me to meet you." He gently shed her white dress, planting kisses here and there all over her body.

Alice felt a shock of pleasure with each kiss on her skin. She let out sighs and squirmed underneath him, feeling a warm heat take over her body.

"We could make up for lost time then," he said, planting one last kiss on her stomach before stripping her of her last article of clothing. "We have plenty of time together anyways."

"Eh?"

Dante wrapped his arms around her, lifting her naked form slightly off the bed so that he could move her towards the soft pillows.

"Do what you think is best for you, Alice," the black haired man said, running his fingers through her softly waved cyan hair. "If you want to go by yourself because of the Berserker's challenge, then go. I won't stop you, but just know that I'll be fine."

He kissed her gently, looking down at her with half-lidded eyes.

"I will never leave your side, ever again."

Alice felt her heart beating faster inside of her chest at his words. "Really?" she asked, her blue eyes shimmering with tears.

"Always," he muttered, placing his forearm beside her head for leverage and leaning his forehead against hers. "Just promise me that you won't leave me either."

She nodded hurriedly, tears of happiness falling from her eyes. "Of course!"

Dante let out a soft, inaudible, sigh of relief. He chuckled lightly, the slightest hint of a blush visible on his cheeks. "Idiot," he said to her, kissing her once more.

_"That's right. I was oblivious." _

Alice succumbed to Dante's gentle caresses, mewling and whimpering at the growing tension inside of her body. Her back arched in pleasure, her mouth letting out soft, shy screams.

"D-Dante..." she managed to whimper out when she felt him nibble her inner thigh gently.

_"Dante cares about me more than I think. He might worry about me more than how I worry about him. Or maybe we're both the same." _

Panting heavily, Alice laid almost lifelessly on the bed. A soft blush covered her entire body and her internal tension did not cease. She wanted more. It was the first time she felt his euphoric pleasure and she certainly did not want it to be her last.

Her blue eyes glanced over at Dante, who was wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, cleaning himself up before his hands went to his unbuckle his belt.

Alice watched him with a lustful gaze as his shaky hands freed himself from his pants. His cheeks were ablaze with a bright blush and his body was covered in a thin film of sweat. His hair fell messily over his eyes as he stared down at her with eyes filled with desire.

_"I guess I can't leave him even if I wanted to. Such a kind, gentle person...he'll get hurt if he's with anyone else other than me." _

"Uhm..." he muttered, holding himself over her. "I...I heard it might hurt for you." Dante stammered, his voice low and rugged.

Alice giggled at him, finding it adorable at how such a usually straight-laced, stern man was reduced to nothing, but nervous stutters and a blushing pile of mess. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's fine," she answered, smiling. "If it's you, it's fine. Just make me feel better afterwards like you always do."

Dante lowered his eyes, his blush intensifying as he let his body slowly melt in with hers.

_"I have to protect him." _

Alice let out a scream, but was quickly silenced by Dante's kiss. She cried, drowning her voice into his mouth. When she managed to calm down, Dante muttered apologies into her ear continuously. "I'm sorry," he told her, holding her hand tightly in his own.

He waited until her body stopped trembling and got used to him.

"Okay- I think...it's fine now," she whispered.

_"He won't leave me and I won't leave him. Forever." _

Alice panted and whined as she and Dante moved their bodies together. It felt absolutely - breathtaking.

"Dante..." she whispered, tears forming in the corners of her eyes out of pure pleasure. She looked up at him, first fixating her gaze on the necklace around his neck that was dangling down towards her. It was a small silver ring, embedded with red rubies. Certainly wasn't Dante's necklace, but she couldn't help, but think that they twinkling jewels reminded her of his eyes.

Then she looked up at his face. His eyes were closed, sweat on his brow and his lips parted slightly, letting out soft groans of pleasure.

"Dante," she called out to him.

He opened his eyes slowly, revealing those red irises that she adored so much. Such a warm color...

Alice reached up and wrapped herself around him, embracing him tightly.

"Alice-" he let out a strangled groan, "you feel so nice," he whispered.

She buried her face into his neck and shoulder, kissing and biting at his skin. She felt herself being pushed over the edge suddenly. Bright flashes of light went off in front of her eyes as she instinctively opened her mouth and let out a scream.

"Alice," he groaned out again into her ear. Dante wrapped his arms around, picking her up slightly off the bed.

_"He's mine. No one else can take him from me. Not even Death. I'll make sure of it..." _

The young woman collapsed back onto the pillows, completely spent. Her hair was a mess and her body was covered in sticky sweat. She vaguely heard Dante fall back onto the bed beside her.

"Look," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her in close to him.

Alice stared out the small window in the room and saw a single firework being shot up into the sky, signalling the beginning of the show. It's colors vibrantly splashed out onto the dark night sky, painting a beautiful picture.

"Guess you were right," he chuckled sleepily, kissing the back of her neck. "You really can see them from here."

The warrior tiredly nodded, feeling herself falling into the depths of sleep. Her eyelids fluttered open and closed, her consciousness dancing between the realm of reality and dreams.

Dante pulled the sheets over their tired, naked bodies. "I'll wait for you, Alice. You'll do fine. You always do."

She closed her eyes, falling asleep.

_"So he figured it out_..."

"I don't know how long it will take for you to tame the Berserker, but I'll wait."

Alice let her mind drift off, losing touch with reality. She briefly heard the loud booms of the fireworks outside as well as Dante's voice for the last time.

"I'll always love you, Alice."

"...Thank you...Dante."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **_That's right._

_Alice deflowered that fine piece of ass. _

_Okay I hope that scene wasn't too graphic. _

_I'm also really sorry for not updating in forever. I had a lot of stuff happen in my life over the past few months. Great things, though, so don't worry. :) I'll try to update with the next chapter by next week, but no solid promises. I really want to wrap up Fragments though because there IS a third installment I have planned. Unfortunately, for you romance lovers, the third installment to Aegis will have minimal romance in it. There will be some, but it won't be the focus of the story like it is with Aegis and Fragments. ): _

_So~ I think you guys can sense the end of this story is coming up soon. Not sure on the amount of chapters, but there will be a timeskip after this. Yes, the dreaded timeskip. I know it's a lazy way out, but don't worry. I will explain everything in the upcoming chapters. _

_For now, I honestly don't know if there are still people that are going to be reading this. LOL. I seriously haven't updated in so long that I think I lost a lot of readers /cry  
><em>

_Please review for those that were still awaiting a chapter from me Q uQ I really appreciate you guys  
><em>


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